A Different Kind of Love
by DrVillain2654
Summary: Fifteen year old David has just begun his adventure with his friend, Sabrina, and partner, his Zoroark, Shade. After travelling to Sinnoh he may discover more than just adventure, but something greater entirely. Rated T for slight language and themes that may be innapropriate for younger readers.
1. 1-Surprises

**Well, I finally broke down and actually wrote one... This is my first fanfiction, and I'm excited to be doing this! I'd love reviews, flames, constructive criticism, just plain "This is wonderful"s would be nice. Anyway, please enjoy! Oh, and this is a rather short chapter, being the first and all. Chapters should start bein around 5,000 words soon, so be wary of that.**

**-The ****most wonderful, extravagant, eccentric DrVillain**

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Cold. Well, that's how he felt when he woke up. Slowly the boy's eyes opened, though the light made him squint. The covers had come off. David was lying on his bed, a twin size with dark blue sheets that had slipped to the ground during the night. "Huh," He said aloud, knowing no one was around to hear him. "Suddenly my dream about Snowpoint makes more sense…"

"About time you woke up!" A red glow engulfed the room for a moment before a dark figure stood before the boy. "You would think after the alarm going off half an hour ago everyone would be awake!" The thing was David's Zoroark, Shade, a fox-like pokemon that had been with David for years. It stood about five foot four, two inches shorter than David, covered head to toe in black fur, and a purple mane held by a gold band.

"Well, I dunno! You know full well someone could drop a bomb on the house and I still wouldn't wake up!"

"… This is true… Still annoying having to stay in that ball until you decide to get your lazy butt out of bed."

"I'll try harder to cater your every need next time, Shade" David answered sarcastically.

"Darn right you will! Now, where's breakfast, slave?"

"In the kitchen."

"Smart ass." Shade stretched and walked out of the room. David chuckled to himself. Shade was an egg when David first got him. His parents decided having a pokemon was the safest thing for him as a child, so they went and picked up an egg from a pokemon breeder. It took a long time, but it hatched into a shiny Zorua. David's parents were amazed when the Zorua hatched with blue fur instead of red, but no one was complaining. At the time Shade was more like a Poochyena than he was now. He could only speak in little yips and barks, though it was still easy to communicate with him. He was about as smart as a psychic type even then. When he evolved he learned to use his illusion ability to imitate human speech. He created an illusion that he could speak english, making it so he was understood. Ever since then he never shut up.

David changed into his regular clothes, khaki shorts and a bright yellow-greenish shirt. He actually really hated the color yellow, but it looked so nice on him… It was good contrast to his lightly tanned skin and short dark hair. His eyes were a mish-mash of colors, all layered evenly around his pupil: green, purple, orange, blue, red, you name it, it's there somewhere.

Walking out of his room he saw his parent's bedroom door opened, signaling they were awake. '_Oh good. That means breakfast is probably being made. Hopefully Shade isn't bothering them too much...'_ David chuckled to himself. Shade had a nasty habit of harassing everyone for food, only since he could talk it was arguably more obnoxious than if he were just a Snubbull. Growing up in such an easy environment would spoil anyone. The hallway was lit with a very tiny chandelier on the ceiling, which was really just a few strands of string covered with glass to block the full brightness of the bulb. The bright carpet had a few stains from years of wear, but David had gotten used to it by then.

"You awake yet?" David's dad called from downstairs. David's father was a store clerk at the local pokemart, a rather large one since it was in one of the largest towns in Unova. Nimbasa was always busy, being a tourist attraction in itself. With the amusement park, pokemon gym, and sports arenas it was likely only second in population to Castelia City, the country's capital. Their ice cream attracted more people than an entire amusement park.

"Yeah, I'm coming downstairs." David called back to his father. Walking down the stairs he could smell the wonderful scent of breakfast meat. Shade probably was having a field day in there. The sizzling sound of his breakfast filled his ears, and he only then realized how hungry he was. He had stayed up late into the night before planning the day ahead.

"David, hurry up, Shade's becoming a bother, and he doesn't listen to me." His mother called back.

"He doesn't listen to me either!" David's mom worked as room service at the local pokemon center. Nurse Joy could only do so much in a small town, and the popularity of Nimbasa made it impossible, so Joy had hired people from town to help out with the rooms while she healed.

The kitchen was decorated with beige walls, and a bright window from the morning sun. The counter was littered with wrappings from the food being cooked on the stove, the smell stronger in there than anywhere else, which was good. It would be odd if it were any other way. Shade was standing right beside David's mom, almost pushing her away from the stove, anxiously anticipating the sausage to finish cooking.

"David, could you control your Zoroark?" Mrs. Melbar asked her son.

"No one controls me! I will not leave until I get breakfast!" Shade shouted, louder than anyone would have preferred.

David pressed the button on his pokeball and Shade's eyes got wide as he was sucked back in. David had made it a habit to keep Shade's ball on him at all times. It made it convenient to bring him places, and if he ever did something stupid enough to warrant recalling him. It didn't take long for Shade to break out again, but once he was out he stayed beside David.

"Sometimes you make me angry." Shade said, unimpressed at David's show of control.

"You know full well if you wouldn't screw up I wouldn't do it."

"Why don't you let me screw up? Sometimes it's fun."

"If I followed that logic you would have died back in Lumiose when you tried to climb the gy-" Shade quickly put his paws over David's mouth to keep him from finishing his sentence.

"No one needs to know about that!"

David pulled his companion's arm away from his face and started spitting out the long purple and black hairs. "I want you to know something, and I want you to take it to heart, so you never make the same mistake again. You shed. A lot. I think I could get rid of you and build myself a new Zoroark just from the hair I find around the house."

"You should be used to it by now." Shade shrugged and went back to the stove, now standing at a more respectable distance lest he be retrieved again. David sat down at the table beside his father, who was reading the newspaper. His dad's balding head was just visible over the large sheet of paper he was reading, and the few strands of dark hair he had left were put over his head in an embarrassing attempt at a comb-over.

"So you have something to tell us?" His dad said, not even bothering to turn his head, but instead turning a page.

"Pardon?" David asked, confused. No way is dad had learned about his plans.

"You know. Kept it a secret, but your parents know all. Found this in the trash." His dad held a hand over his newspaper, holding a small sheet of paper. David took it out of his hand and read it.

"Where'd you find this?" David asked with curiosity. He thought he had gotten rid of it.'

"What? You think I wouldn't notice a couple thousand dollars falling out of the budget? Dusk balls are expensive, David." David took another look at the receipt he was holding and smiled.

"I was going to make it a big surprise… Then there you go ruining it with your stupid budget…" David mocked depression and laughed. His dad lowered to paper and David saw his smiling face.

"You really thought we would wake up early enough to make a good breakfast for no reason? Naw. It's my day off! I'd be darned if I woke up early!" Mr. Melbar laughed harder and grabbed his son's shoulder. "I'm proud, son! I've been wondering for years when you were finally going to do something interesting!"

"Oh, Robert! Be nice! This is exciting!" David's mother walked over carrying the pan of sausage and bacon to the table. David noticed a plate of pancakes lying on the counter as well, which his mother lost no time in bring over as well. She just wanted to make sure not to leave the meats unattended, otherwise Shade might be the only one to get any protein that morning. "I'm so proud of you! Are you going with anyone else?"

David nodded. "Yeah, Sabrina and I planned it so we'd be leaving at the same time." Sabrina was his long time friend from school. She was a nice girl, and one of the few friends he had that he'd tell anything to. Shade being the only other one. David had a decent amount of friends, but none that he really trusted with anything important other than Sabrina and Shade. But Shade didn't count enough for most people to care.

"She has a pokemon?"

"Oh yeah, an Eevee she hatched from an egg a couple months back, and a Darumaka she caught down near where the construction is going on. She's been training a bit for the trip, too." David answered.

"Oh good! Between them and Shade you should be perfectly safe! When are you leaving?" Mrs. Melbar asked.

"Well, the plan was about noon, and I was planning to tell you this morning." David said. He would need a while to completely be ready. Run to the store to pick up a few final supplies, say farewells, all that stuff.

"Oh good! I finally get some alone time with your mother!" Mr. Melbar said with a relieved tone.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Doesn't matter! Have a good time out there! Stay safe! I expect you to be champion next time I see you!"

"I'll just grab a few things from upstairs, shower, and get going then. Thank you for your support." David said, standing from his chair.

"Think nothing of it. Hope you have a great time. Now come give you mother a hug!" David's mother stood with him and hugged her son, squeezing him. She released him and he saw a tear in her eye, and a sad smile on her face.

"Thanks." David walked out of the kitchen.

* * *

David took one last look at the house before walking down the driveway, Shade at his side. His plan was to pick up a few potions from the store, then meet Sabrina at Gear Station. The store didn't take long to get to, as it was right near his house. Cars were obsolete in the city, as even with the amusement park there, everything was within walking distance. It was also convenient for his mother, since the pokecenter and pokemart had merged into one company, so they worked in the same building. The building was a two story red establishment, people milling in and out of it. Mostly pokemon trainers; a small boy wearing a blue hat with a Rattata, a ranger in red clothing, dark hair, and a red hat, holding pokeballs in her hand, a pale man with a Riolu.

He walked inside and saw Nurse Joy frantically trying to keep up with all the different people trying to get their pokemon healed, and indeed there were many, a line leading almost all the way back to the door. Her eyes found David and she called out. "Hi David!" and waved before returning to her work.

David waved back and walked to the shop part of the building, which was surprisingly less full. At the counter was his dad's co-worker, Mr. Neil. David had met him a few times when he visited the house to see his dad. "Hey David. What're you up to?"

David waved and walked all the way up to the counter. "I'm going off on a journey later today. Thought I might need some supplies."

"Ooh, finally decided to leave the nest, eh? Only took five years longer than normal." Mr. Neil smiled and laughed. "I'm just kiddin' with ya. Here, have some potions, compliments of me."

"Oh, no need, I can pay for it…"

"Nah, I insist kid. Good luck out there!"

David took the potions from Mr. Neil and places them in his bag. "Thank you! I guess I'll be going, then. Gotta meet my friend at Gear Station."

"Oh, you decided to go really far out, eh? Can't just stay in Unova, can you?" Neil laughed.

"Well, you know, I thought it would be interesting. I haven't really decided on a true place yet, though…"

"Don't go to Hoenn."

"What?" David questioned. He had actually been leaning towards Hoenn recently.

"It's cliche and crowded. Over the last year it seems EVERYONE wants to get to Hoenn. Something about some new battling technique they found. Discovered in Kalos, you know. Somehow found it's way over in Hoenn, and they're having a showing of it in December. Anyway, it'll be crowded. Kanto's about the same way, but it's always like that. Biggest damn tourist trap in the world is the entire country of Kanto."

"Oh, well, thanks for the tip. I suppose Kalos'd fall under that as well, wouldn't it?"

"Oh yeah, that new battling technique thingy- Mega Stones I think they called it- started there, so... "

"Yeah, I hear you. So I guess me and my friend can debate between the other two."

"Well, don't take anything I say to heart, you know. Go wherever your heart pleases you." Mr. Neil nodded and laughed. "Now get out there! I'm sure your friend is waiting."

David nodded and laughed. "Yeah… See you around, then."

"See ya, kid." David left the pokecenter and gave one final nod to Nurse joy before bursting out into the road. Gear Station was only a short walk from the pokemon center, and David ran the entire way. Gear Station was built as a huge dome with a giant gear in the center, which most thought was clever, but David really just decided it looked silly. Stairs leading down under ground to the subways granted him view of a sight he didn't find surprising in the least.

"Hey Sabrina!" David called. The girl walking down the stairs turned around to face him and her face broke into a smile. The brown haired girl jogged back up the stairs, two at a time to reach him. When she reached him she wasted no time pulling him into a hug.

"It's about time you got here. I've been waiting so long…"

Hugs from her were normal. She'd always been a hugger, and David had eventually gotten used to it. He let go of her and frowned. "So long that you just started walking down the stairs?"

"Shut up. Come on! Did you decided which region we're going to?" She asked inquisitively, her green eyes gleaming in the noon sun.

"Well, after very long tedious thinking, I've narrowed it down to Johto and Sinnoh. I'll let you pick."

"Sinnoh." She answered immediately.

"Why Sinnoh, though?" David asked. She seemed to have thought about that beforehand, from the speed of her answer.

"I can do a little research myself. The pokemon there are so CUTE! And it's, like, the only place I can get a Leafeon."

"Ah. So you're ready to go, then?"

"Of course!" Sabrina pulled him into another hug, then quickly released him before wasting no time in pulling him down the stairs to the trains.

* * *

**NOTE: Edited for good purpose. I believe the quality of this chapter to be MUCH better.**


	2. 2-Snowpoint

**I'm back! ****As I said, I believe this chapter is better than the first. Now that introductions are out of the way I could actually start writing what I like. Anyways, enjoy this significantly longer chapter!**

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"Attention passengers, we will be arriving in Snowpoint shortly. Please gather all belongings and personal belongings before we reach the stop, and thank you for choosing the Nimbasa SubStation." A smooth woman's voice rang throughout the train. They had been on the sub for well over ten hours, time mostly spent sleeping or playing cards. The group soon found out never to challenge Shade to a game of BS. Sabrina stretched her arms over her head, waking up from her latest nap. She and her Eevee were in the same position they were in at the start of the journey. The little brown fur ball hopped onto the floor and stretched itself. Darumaka had put himself in his ball halfway through the trip and hadn't come out since. David had just been sitting there the last hour trying to plan their route once they got to Sinnoh.

He decided it was probably best to wait to challenge Candace. He thought they ought to do a little training and get the hang of things before jumping straight into it. There was a ferry in Snowpoint that could take them around Sinnoh to Canalave, where they could easily reach Jubilife and go from there. He was considering going to Roark's gym first because it was closest, but didn't want to take the time to go there and back to jublife. There used to be a path between Eterna and Oreburgh, but about a month before a whole bunch of Graveler tore up the path, so it's impossible to trek now. A new path was scheduled to be finished in a few days , making it the perfect plan to go to Eterna and wrap back around to Oreburgh, then head on to the east side of Sinnoh.

"We have reached our destination. All passengers please disembark." David stood up, Shade following close behind.

Sabrina stood up carrying her Eevee around her neck like a scarf. "Nice look, Sabrina, it suits you." David said laughing.

"Hey, she did this, not me!"

"Haha, no worries."

"So, do we know where we're heading from here?"

"Yeah, I thought something up. We're going to take the ferry from here to Canalave, then head up to Eterna for our first gym."

"Why not just walk down the mountain into Celestic Town?"

"I want you to recall one thing: We are wearing summer clothes."

"Shopping?"

"Too expensive. You know we only have the money for travel right now, if we buy clothes we won't be able to get on the ferry." David said.

"Fine, you make a good point. I hate the cold."

"Why should you? Your scarf seems to be working fine."

"I know, beautiful isn't it?"

"Right. Well, off we go!" The three walked out of the warmed substation and outside only to be hit by the freezing air of Snowpoint. The entire town was covered in a deep layer of snow, the star light gleaming off the surface of the frozen ground. The train ride had taken all day, so it was around nine at night now. They could see the back of the gym from the Former Temple SubStation, the large building seemed to be completely frozen, ice hanging off the sides. There were very few houses scattered here and there among the trees, and only a few people walking around bundled up in heavy clothing. There was only one person dressed otherwise, a teenager with pink hair. She was wearing rather thin pants and a blue T-shirt, barefoot as well. They saw her walk, shivering, to the pokemon center.

The place wasn't very large, probably the entire town being just over the size of Nuvema town. The ferry was easily seen from the gym, so they made a beeline for it. "Excuse me sir!" David called out to a man standing outside the boat. "Do you know when the next time the ferry heads to Canalave is?" He was wearing a black and white striped shirt and blue jeans. He wore a blue bandana on his head.

"Aye, I was plannin' to set 'er asail tomorrer mernin'. Ye see, me wife down there is sick, so she requested I come home to see if she be okay." His voice was scratchy, and he used an odd accent. It definitely wasn't a Sinnoh voice. "Me thinks you should try stayin' a night at the pokemon center. We leave at ten in the mernin' if you still want to go. Free of charge since it's a trip I was already plannin'."

"Why thank you, sir. We'll be here!" David said

"Ye better, once I'm here I won't be waitin', so be on time."

"Yes sir. Thank you." They walked back into the town towards the pokemon center. They had seen it as they passed the gym, so they knew where to go. They were shivering from the cold, even such a short exposure had left them freezing when they reached the center. Inside the heat was running full blast, something they were oh too happy to embrace.

They saw the pink haired girl sitting in a chair rubbing her arms with her hands in an attempt to warm them. She looked at them and she got a grin on her face. "I'm not the only crazy one!" she cried in glee. She hopped up and ran towards them. "T-shirts, am I right? Come with me, I have some warm clothes that might fit you." She said addressing Sabrina.

"Well, um, that's very nice of you…"

"Maylene. I'm Maylene, leader of the Veilstone gym."

"Oh, you're a gym leader? Well, that explains the eccentricity." Shade laughed. Gym leaders were generally stereotyped as oddballs, which is really what made them interesting in their job. If they didn't have their own little quirks where would the fun in taking them on be?

Maylene looked a little confused. "Um, did that Zoroark just talk?"

"Yeah, he learned to use illusions to make it sound like he's speaking english… so he does… it's a bunch of confusing crap, don't worry about it." David told her.

"I… see? Anyways, just follow me." Maylene led them up the stairs and into the living areas of the Pokemon Center. Like the healing, the rooms were free, and there were a great many of them. Maylene's room was just like all the others. Two bunk beds on either side of the room, a small bathroom next to the entrance, and an old TV across the room from the beds. There was also a couch next to the TV that could fold out into another bed.

"I'm Sabrina by the way, and this is David. The Zoroark is named Shade. And of course this Eevee around my neck is mine." By this point Eevee was squirming to the point where Sabrina had to pull her off her shoulders and just carry her in her arms. She purred as Sabrina pet her back.

"Nice to meet you guys. Are you staying a night here?"

"Yeah, we have to catch a boat in the morning."

"Well, David, why don't you go check in a room while I'm getting something for Sabrina?"

"That's a good idea, go get us a room, David."

"Okay. Shade, heel." David said

"I'm not your Growlithe…" Shade muttered.

"Don't care. C'mon." David walked back to the counter, Shade following closely behind. Nurse joy was sitting at the desk, smiling as always.

"Excuse me, Nurse Joy, I'd like to rent a room."

"Okay then, one moment please." She reached behind her and picked a key off the wall. "Here you go, you're in room number twelve." She handed him the key and gestured towards the rooms.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, young man."

David went back to the rooms to find Sabrina wearing her pajamas talking with Maylene. "I got the room, we're in twelve."

"Thanks, David, I'll be there in a minute." Sabrina said returning to her conversation. David looked around at the rooms until he found twelve. Walking in the first thing he noticed was the small lump on one of the beds. It seemed to squirm a bit under the covers.

It was tiny, that much was apparent, maybe just larger than a Growlithe. David turned the light in the room on and walked to the bed. In this world even small things could pack a punch if you're not careful. He slowly lifted the covers off the bed, revealing a squirming… Riolu? The small blue jackal pokemon looked up at him with curious eyes, interested to see who had pulled off the sheets. upon seeing the boy he immediately cowered away, trying to shrink back onto the bed.

David was confused. What was a riolu doing in his bed? He saw it trying to slide away and tried comforting it. "Um, hey little buddy. I'm not gonna hurt you. Come here…" He thought he sounded like an idiot doing that, and the Riolu didn't seem to be falling for it either. he sighed. "Shade, get behind it. Don't touch it, please."

Shade walked over and got behind the small pokemon, holding out his hands to catch it if it tried to run off. "Hey, kid, the boy ain't gonna hurt you." Shade said to the Riolu. It looked at him and tilted its head.

"Riolu?"

Shade's eyes went wide at the blue jackal saying its name. "Um, no, no whip here." Whip? What was he talking about?

"Shade, what did he say?" David asked.

"He seems to think you were going to whip him for getting lost. I'll try to see what happened."

"Rio rilu! riolu lu ri olu?" It said excitedly. Shade looked a little freaked out before smiling and shaking his head.

"Children… he says his master would always lash him for doing things wrong. He was afraid you were him. Also, he asked if he could come with us since we're obviously nicer. No whip." Shade said. So he'd been severely punished for almost nothing? Delightful. David was amazed there were people in this world that would even think to do things like that.

"Sure, why not? Seems we'd be taking him from a pretty wretched home anyways. Ask if he has a name of his _former_ master."

"Rio olu."

"He says it was something like Vladimeer. Sounds like an evil name, really." Shade said. "Now, that's all wrapped up. I'm tired, dang it!" Shade immediately scrambled onto the top bunk of one of the beds and tried to fall asleep.

"You dressed in there, David?" A voice called from the hall. Sabrina was waiting outside the door before coming in, not wanting to walk in on him.

"I'm fine, come on in, Sabrina." the girl came in the room and looked around.

"These rooms are all the same, aren't they? I want that bed." she pointed at the bottom bunk of the bed unoccupied by Shade. The sheets were a dull brown color, like everything else in the room. She sat down on the bed she chose and looked at the Riolu on David's bed. "Where'd that come from? It's adorable!" She said, standing up to pet it. It shrank away from her hands as she approached.

"It's fine, kid, she's nice." Shade groaned from the top bunk, rolling over so his tail dropped on top of Sabrina's head.

"Hey, watch it, fox!"

"That's Mr. Fox to you!" Shade said lazily before going into a doze.

"Bastard…" The Riolu decided Shade must've been telling the truth and let Sabrina rub his head. His tail wagged wildly as he was softly pat on the head. "Does he have a name?"

"Well… um… not yet…"

"Luke. Let's be cliche today." Sabrina suggested.

"Hmm, I was thinking Counter. There's a looker in the world, why not Counter?"

"Good point… Counter it is! Now, goodnight to you." She layed down and went to sleep, leaving David the only one awake with the Riolu.

"Well, Counter, goodnight to you too. We'll head out in the morning, kay?"

"Riolu!"

"Haha, good deal." David went down and crashed immediately, the Riolu on his chest trying desperately to get comfortable.

* * *

He woke up to fur. Lots and lots of fur. In his face, up his nose, everywhere. Counter seemed to have moved onto David's head in the middle of the night. David picked the small pokemon up and set him down next to him on the bed. He stood up and went to the bathroom to shower and change into his day clothes.

He still had to wear the short summer clothing he had in his bag. Dark jeans and a red T-shirt. "Ugh, at least these could come in handy when we get out of the snow." He got into the shower and turned on the warm water. It had been a funny day before. The minute he woke up we got pushed out of the house and onto a journey. Next thing he knows he has a new pokemon with him, an unexpected surprise. After a nice long soak he got out and put on his clothes.

Leaving the bathroom he found Sabrina was awake, and yet again cuddling the Riolu. Shade was still asleep, his arm hanging off the bunk. "This thing is so cute!" Sabrina said hugging Counter.

"Riolu!" It said excitedly, trying to lick her face.

"Oh sto- stop it, Riolu!" She said trying to block his tongue with her hands.

"You're turn for the shower. Having fun?"

"Haha, a blast. I actually just woke up a minute ago, so I haven't had time to do anything." She stood up and put Counter on the bed. She walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

"How long are you going to be? Remember we have a boat to catch!"

"I'll be quick, promise."

"Sure you will…" David looked through his bag to make sure he had everything. His wallet still held a good five thousand dollars. He thought the ferry would cost quite a bit, but with it being free of charge he thought it would probably be enough for a while. His dad had put a few potions in there, one hyper, a few supers, and a couple of regulars. His five dusk balls were in a special compartment for minimized pokeballs, large enough to hold a great many. His clothes were folded in the bottom, not taking up too much space. His XTransceiver was lying in the bag on top of the clothes, so he quickly put it on. He retrieved one of the dusk balls and walked to the bed Counter was on.

"So you really want to join me, boy?"

"Ri ulo!"

"He said yes." Shade groaned, trying to push himself up from the bed.

"Thank you. Ready, Counter?" The Riolu shook his head up and down, signalling yes. David tapped the jackal's dead with the ball and there was a red glow before Counter was sucked into it. David minimized the ball and put it in a new compartment on his bag. It had six slots for pokeballs to be in, specially designed to keep up with your team. The only other pokeball in there was Shade's, but for now that would be enough, it was still early, and Shade was more powerful than most pokemon when people first start their journeys.

"Shade! Get up!"

"I am, I am, give me a moment…" Shade finally hopped off the bunk and stretched his back. "The worst part of every day is getting up… Speaking of which, what got you up so early? Usually I'm up before you."

"Let's just say I'll be sneezing fur for the rest of the day." Shade suppressed a laugh before sitting down on the couch.

"Are we gonna eat before heading out, or wait? Because I'm not up for waiting." He said while propping his feet up on the coffee table. David checked his XTransceiver for the time. Only eight forty-five.

"Sure, I think we'll have time if Sabrina gets out of the shower fast enough." Then then heard the water in the bathroom turn off, and a few seconds later the girl came walking out, all dressed in her new warm clothes. "We'll have time."

"Time for what?" Sabrina asked.

"Shade wants breakfast before we head out. I think we'll have time to grab something."

"Oh sure, I'm up for that." she answered picking up her own bag and putting it over her shoulder. "Lead the way, wherever you want to go." Shade stood up and followed the two teenagers out the door.

In the main room David gave the room key back to Joy and she hung it on a wall. "Thanks for staying with us, come again!" She said in a tinkly voice.

"Thank you." David said back. They walked out the door back into the freezing town of Snowpoint. "I think there was a restaurant over near the Pokemart. Come on." The pokemart was right across the street from the pokemon Center, that is, if you can call it a street if you can' even see it for snow. There was no one around that early in the morning, so the town seemed completely empty. David was correct, there was a place to eat next to the pokemart, so they quickly jostled in and got a seat.

A waitress came up and greeted them. "What would you like to eat this morning?" She asked nicely.

"I'd like a sausage biscuit, please." David said, handing her his menu.

"A gravy biscuit sounds nice, thank you." Sabrina told the lady.

"Would the pokemon like anything? You know, some people are touchy about that, I don't know if you are too."

"Oh, that's fine. Shade, what do you want?"

"Zoroark, zoro." He said. Shade found out years ago not to use his illusions in restaurants. It slowed down the process of getting food.

"He'd like a bacon biscuit, with a side of bacon and sausage. Wait, wasn't that what you had yesterday?"

"Zoroark!" '_Don't judge me!'_ he said back. The waitress wrote everything down and walked off, returning a few minutes later with their food.

"Thank you, this looks delightful."

"You're very welcome. Have a nice day!"

"You too." She walked off and the small group quickly ate their food. They finished eating about nine-thirty and got up to leave the restaurant. David payed for the food and they walked outside.

"I guess we ought to wait in the pokemon center for the time to leave." Sabrina suggested. They agreed and went back across the street to the warmed center. There were a few people in the room, Maylene, who waved at them, the old lady from the train knitting in a chair, and a man in a brown trench coat reading the new paper, The Snowpoint Times. Sabrina walked to Maylene for a small chat while the man seemed to take notice of David.

"Hey, kid. You a trainer?" David saw the man stand up and walk towards him.

"Well yes, but I don't have any badges yet. We're about to go to Canalave to start."

"Oh, good deal. Well, as a trainer you cannot deny my battle request! I was never much good at battling, myself, but I think one last battle before I leave town would be nice. Come with me outside and we'll do it."

"Oh, uh, okay. One moment." He called Sabrina. "Hey, I'm heading outside for a minute, come get me when it's time to leave."

"Okay." She returned to talking with Maylene and David went out doors with the man. He was led to the back of the pokemon center where a small battling area had been set up. Thankfully it was covered, so there wasn't any snow where they'd be fighting, but that did nothing to stop the cold. The man walked to the other side of the field and called out

"I, Alexander Popekavich, challenge you to a pokemon battle! Piplup, go!"

"Counter, on the field!" David pulled the pokeball from his bag and threw it onto the arena's floor. Counter appeared standing up, ready to fight. Alexander's Piplup gave Counter a glare while waiting for its master's orders.

"Piplup, bubblebeam!"

"Let's see… Counter, Feint!" The Piplup took a large breath of air before blowing out a large stream of bubbles right at Counter. The Jackal was hit by the wave of bubbles and got knocked down, but he quickly stood up and ran at the Piplup. He raised his paws as if getting ready to punch the bird, but at the last second jumped over it and instead kicked it in the back before it could react. The piplup went flying a short way before skidding to a stop, wincing.

"Piplup, don't give up. We have him now. Peck!"

"Counter!" The piplup came at Counter and slammed it's beak into his head. The Riolu was knocked down again, but stood up to smack Piplup into the air. That little thing had a lot of power, you had to admit. The piplup fell back to the ground and didn't stand up.

"Piplup, return. Good fight, but it's not over yet. Roselia, your turn."

"Counter, return. You did great, buddy!" David pet the pokemon's head before putting him back in his ball. "Shade, Front and center!" The shiny Zoroark walked onto the field smiling.

"Woohoo! First time I've battled since those oddish got in your mother's garden." He said. Alexander raised an eyebrow.

"He talks?"

"Illusions, don't sweat it."

"Ah, I see. I've never seen one of his species. Do they all talk?"

"Nope, I'm just special." Shade said proudly.

"Yeah, _very_ special." David said sarcastically.

"Oh shut up. Let's get this going!"

"David! The ship's ready to go!" The boy looked in the direction of the voice and saw Sabrina running towards him.

"Okay, I'm almost done! Head over and wait for me, I'll be there in a minute!" David called.

"Okay! Please don't be late."

"I won't, Sabrina." She ran to the ship and David returned to the battle. "Okay, Shade, use night slash."

"Roselia, ingrain!" The small flower pokemon grew long roots that dug into the ground. It seemed to grow slightly larger. Shade dashed towards the flower and slashed it with his claws, making the Roselia falter in its step. It seemed really hurt, but a second later it glowed green and seemed to be a little healthier then.

"Giga Drain!" Alexander called.

"Get it with another night slash, Shade!" The Roselia shot some roots quickly at Shade, catching him mid-run. He seemed to grow weaker by the second, while the Roselia looked better. "Knock off those roots!" Shade tore the green vines off and ran at the flower pokemon, slashing at it again. The Roselia this time fell all the way down, it looked barely able to stand. It glowed again and looked slightly better, but not much.

"Roselia, magical leaf!"

"Shade, feint attack!" many leaves suddenly formed out of the air and were thrown at Shade. He was hit and slammed into the ground. He stood up wincing, and slowly hobbled over to the Roselia, showing lots of pain. Suddenly he seemed to have a lot more strength, and he raised his paw above his head.

"Like my acting? No? Aw, too bad, I worked hard on that. Anyways, g'night." He smiled as he raked his claw over the Roselia's body, finally knocking it unconscious.

"Good job, Shade. Return." Shade walked back to David and stood beside him.

"Good fight, kid. I didn't expect to win, really. Good battle. Here, take this." Alexander handed David a small sum of money for the battle.

"Thanks, you did well. Near the end there I honestly thought Shade was hurt real bad."

"Haha, never assume things. Get to know your pokemon's fighting style, get in sync, you'll go far. That's theory, anyway, obviously it hasn't done much for me."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll get better. Now, I have a boat to catch… See you."

"See ya, kid."

David ran towards the direction of the dock. It took a minute, but he finally reached it to find… nothing. He got out his XTransceiver and called Sabrina. "Hey, where are you? Where's the boat?"

"David, I'm so sorry! I tried to get him to stop, but he wouldn't listen! He said he warned us he wouldn't wait!"

"Oh no, are you saying-"

"David, the boat left without you."

* * *

**See? What'd I tell you? longer. Anyways, first battle was a victory, the boat left without him! What will David do now to be reunited with his friend? Well, I have to write it for you to find out, silly. Haha, hope you enjoyed it, reviews, flames, criticism, all are nice!**


	3. 3-Frost

**And Chapter three is out! I decided to try a lot more description is this chapter to try and lengthen things out, but it turned out slightly shorter than chapter two... I'm not quite pleased with my ability to pace things properly, I want these chapters to average about five thousand words. Ah well, I'll work on it. Anyway, enjoy. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter.**

* * *

"Okay, first you just head down into the Acuity Lakefront, then go south from there onto Routes Seventeen and Sixteen. Then you just head through Mt. Coronet and you'll reach either Celestic Town or Eterna City, depending which way you turn. Got that?" The man said pointing towards the exit of Snowpoint City. After learning he would have to find his own way out of Snowpoint David had immediately asked someone for directions. They seemed to be simple enough, just go south until you reach a mountain.

"Thank you, Sir, I appreciate this."

"You're welcome, kid. Be careful out there, the routes are treacherous through most of the year, and we wouldn't want you getting stuck."

"Haha, I'll try." David Turned and walked towards the boutique. They used to only be a fad in Kalos, but the overpriced clothes stores got popular and spread throughout the regions. Now almost every town in every region had one. David finally relented to buying clothes since he had to walk to Floaroma Town, where he and Sabrina had agreed to meet.

The boutique, sadly, was not near as warmed as the pokemon center, in fact it seemed to have the same temperature as outside. He looked around at the clothes, finally deciding on a long sleeved purple T-shirt and a sleek black coat. Probably not the best color matchup, but he liked the colors, and how the clothing felt. He elso found another pair of jeans so he could double up to stay warm. He paid for them, completely depleting his funds. '_Great, now I'm broke too...'_ he thought. He left the store and went to the pokemon center to change. He enjoy his last few moments of warm before heading into the snow for a long treck.

"Why are you still here?" Maylene stopped him as he was leaving the center. "Did you not leave with Sabrina?"

"We got separated. That battle made me late for the boat and it left without me. We're planning to meet in Floaroma." David answered. "I get to walk there, so, yeah, fun…"

"Oh, it's not that bad. I do this about once every two weeks for training. Keeps me in top condition trudging through the snow with barely any protection from the cold." Maylene smiled at him and pat his back. "Well, I'm going to go visit Candice. You have a good time out there."

"Thanks." David finally left the center, quickly feeling the piercing effects of the cold. He wasn't used to it, Unova being such a moderate place. He made the short walk to the docks, which were right in front of the Snowpoint Border. The boy dug a ball out of his bag and released Shade.

"Heading out?"

"Yeah. Thought I might need to company, though. David said looking over the sea. The morning sun was raised high in the sky, casting a reflection over the water that glimmered in the ripples. He could remember the warm days spent at Undella town playing in the water, fishing, watching the boats go in and out of bay. They had taken Shade there a few times, but he always disliked it. The sand would get stuck in his fur, the water made it hard to walk because of how wet it got… He had nothing but complaints about it. David imagined himself just swimming here, letting his worries float away. Then he realized the water would freeze him to death. He sighed and looked back to the exit. "Come on, let's go…" the two walked through the arch, which signalled the border, and started hiking through the lake front.

The wind rustled the needles on the pine trees, knocking bits of snow off of them. You could hear the many cries of pokemon throughout the foresty area. The snow gleamed in the light of the sun, a beautiful serene scene, though this just made the predicament more difficult for David and Shade. The snow was deeper here than it was in town, and it was difficult to take even one step. They had to lift their legs high to get anywhere, the fluffy ice reaching to their knees. There were a few birds that would fly overhead at points, not many, and there weren't many different types, just the same kind of bird every time they saw one. Swellow did seem to be very common to the area.

Deciding to make the most of what they had, the two tried to be as quiet as possible. If they could be silent they wouldn't scare away pokemon, then at least they could see them as they walked. There were snover everywhere, but they were rather hard to see. The pokemon seemed to like staying within the guard of trees, which they happened to look very much like. David saw a few taking pinecones off the trees and comping on them like apples. They seemed to live mostly off the bark and pinecones. One caught sight of them and stood still, keeping an eye on David and Shade as much as they were watching it. This one was slightly taller than a few of the others, and had a darker shade of brown on its lower body, which resembled a trunk. After staring them down a minute it shrugged and waved, accidentally hitting a branch above it and spilling snow all over itself. David chuckled a little as the confused pokemon dug its way out of the small pile of white ice.

After about half an hour of walking the two finally reached Lake Acuity itself. They could see a small rocky island in the center of the lake, with what from the shore looked like a cave. He could have sworn he saw a dash of yellow in the entrance, but shrugged it off after a moment. A family of Wobbuffet were scuttling around on the other side, their tiny feet moving quickly to propel themselves. A Wynaut showed its face from behind one of the Wobbuffet and walked to the lake for a drink. After drinking the group of pokemon started walking around the side, getting closer and closer to the two passersby.

David motioned for Shade to stand still and watch. As the small family got closer David noticed some things about of the Wobbuffet seemed to be wearing lipstick. He knew this meant it was female. That was one of the things they were taught early on in Trainer school, which David had only taken one year of a long time ago. It was a basic skill to be able to tell the difference between male and female pokemon, and Wobbuffet was often used as an example since the difference is so noticeable. Females have red, oddly shaped lips that make it look like they're wearing lipstick. Males lack lips. They didn't seem to acknowledge that David and Shade were there, instead having their attention fully on the Wynaut. David watched them intensely, interested in the family show. The Wynaut turned around and started walking away. The two Wobbuffet saw this and turned with him, leaving their backs to the two watching them. Then David went black.

* * *

A form was standing in front of him, just barely shorter than him. He couldn't make out what it was other than human shaped. The picture was fuzzy. He watched it fall to the ground, seemingly hurt. He tried to bend down and help, but found he couldn't move. The scene changed and he saw another figure, this time just a little more clear, sitting beside him. All he could see was it seemed to be female, and she was wearing long clothing that reached very near to her feet. The only thing completely clear in the picture was her mout, which was bent in a warm smile. She turned and he heard the sound of an echoed giggle, a high tinkly voice. There was something odd about the way it sounded, but he couldn't quite place it. Again his vision shifted. He was lying in bed, warm, but something felt off. He yet again couldn't move, but he saw the figure again, this time the only clear thing being her eyes, full of tears. She seemed to have been hurt, and from what it looked like, by him. The fuzzy figure walked away, seeming to leave a trail of white fuzz behind, as if she were a blurry picture. He saw a bright light and closed his eyes. When he opened them again he saw a new scene before him. The entire area was blurry, he could only make out the shades of colors. Below him was a bright green, above a light blue. To one said was what looked like a drown pole, topped by green. '_A tree…_ He thought. He looked to his other side and yet again saw the figure, blurry, but seeming to get clearer and clearer by the second. "_Soon"_ She said. He could almost make out what she looked like when he blacked again.

* * *

"David! Wake up David!" his eyes shot open. David saw Shade standing over him yelling at him. "Get up! We have to get out of here!"

"Where am I?"

"Come on, get u- Oogh!" David saw a blue figure jump over him and tackle Shade. David quickly stood up and tried to see what was going on. One of the Wobbuffet was on top of Shade, pinning him to the ground.

"Oh no! Shade, use night slash!" Shade slashed at the psychic type, which flung it away slightly, enough for the Zoroark to stand up. "Night slash, again!" Shade ran at the pokemon, claws extended. He landed to hit, but the Wobbuffet quickly jumped and slammed Shade with his tail.

"Ack!" Shade fell to the ground, the counter doing a lot of damage to him.

"Come on, get up!" David looked at the Wobbuffet. It seemed weak as well, but it was standing, and seemed to be chanting. A black shadow came out of the psychic and engulfed Shade. Nothing seemed to happen though. "Shade come on! Night slash!"

The Zoroark hobbled as quickly as he could to the wobbuffet and slashed him with his claws. The pokemon seemed oddly fine with it, not doing anything to protect itself. Wobbuffet fell, its eyes closed. Quickly followed by Shade doing the same thing.

"Shade! No!" David ran to his partner and looked over him. '_Destiny Bond! I should have known...'_ David pulled out a pokeball and retrieved Shade. He needed all the rest he could get. He looked around to make sure the others of that thing's family weren't around. They must have fled while he was out. David ran as quickly as he could in the deep snow, wanting to get as far away from the Wobbuffets as possible.

He entered Route Seventeen and found himself in an open field of bright, white, snow. A storm seemed to be brewing in the clouds, and the wind picked up, but he knew he couldn't stop. If he stopped now he would die in the snow. He dug in his bag and found Counter's pokeball. He released the small Jackal and picked him up out of the snow. "Sorry, Counter. I can't do this alone, it's too dangerous. I need a partner."

"Riolu!" Counter perked up and licked David's face.

"Heh, good boy." He carried him through the field, trying not to get lost in the vast expanse of seemingly endless ice. Here he saw no Snover, there weren't enough trees around for them to be comfortable. Instead he saw something more dangerous. Sneasel came in and out of view rapidly. The dark/ice types were known for attacking people hiking through. They were always on the hunt for fresh meat, and they were too fast for a person to fight alone. These ones seemed surprisingly uninterested in David, though, instead running away when they got close. The cloud overhead turned grayer as the day progressed, dropping snow much faster. Every once in a while the wind would pick up a pace that David couldn't fight, forcing him to stop for a moment and wait for it to calm down.

Counter had crawled into the space between David's coat and shirt, leaving nothing exposed but his head, which was keeping a good watch below David's chin. He couldn't help but enjoy the extra body heat, hoping it would do something against the deadly freeze around him. Snow fell from the ground in large clumps, every once in a while a large wave of hail falling and hurting the boy's head.

Two hours had gone by and David was starting to worry he was making circles in the snow, not being able to see where he was going. He looked around for anything familiar, hoping he wouldn't see anything he recognised. Hoping he might find another person, or a sign the trek was almost over. Nothing but snow. Every direction cold, hard, heartless snow. Except… there, in the distance… a patch of something darker… maybe… trees! David ran as fast as he could without shaking the poor Riolu to death. He wanted to just get out of the endless white void. The number of sneasel grew as he ran, all of them running the same direction as him, but with a different goal. All these pokemon had fear in their eyes, seeming to run away from something.

David could see the dark spot getting larger and larger. More defined, he could see it was trees! He had reached the end of this endless ocean, this life-sucking wasteland. In the trees this time were no Snover. None at all. Something was up. The Sneasel seemed terrified, Route Sixteen was pokemon-less, what was going on? He shrugged it off. David just wanted to get out of that place.

"Rio… LU!" David looked down and saw the small pokemon sneezing. Counter didn't look too good, almost like he was getting sick.

"Oh my, come on Counter, come back to your ball. We don't want you getting a virus out here." David pushed the button on Counter's ball, the red glow signalling his return. David sighed and went on. The sky was completely gray now, and hail coming down horrendously, without stop. The route was completely void of any people, just David on his own. The snow was getting higher by the minute, and it was getting very hard to walk, having to push himself waist-high through snowy banks.

The air became hard to breathe, as every time the boy tried to take a breath he inhaled a bunch of floating ice. Finally he just couldn't move anymore. He found a rock stick up out of the snow and sat down. Even through his clothes the cold penetrated deep into his body. He couldn't feel his toes or fingers, and he was completely soaked. He watched the snow as he sat, trying to regain his energy. There was a brief moment when he thought he saw something floating in the distance, but it quickly disappeared.

He started to get an eery feeling as he sat, as if something was watching him. "Hello?" He called out.

"_Don't be afraid… we're here with you…" _

David heard voices in his head, as if the same person were talking over herself, multiple voices, all talking at the same time, all sounding the same. They spoke in an alluring melodic way, as if singing to him. "Wh- who are you?"

"_We're here for you…" _

"Where are you?!" David looked around and saw nothing but snow in every direction, thickening, falling harder and harder.

A gray shape seemed to come up to him, floating in the air. "_Don't be afraid… I can help you… no more cold…" _

"What are you?!" David screamed at the shape, so close, yet so hidden by the hard hail.

"_No more pain… no more… no more…"_ Another shape appeared behind it. Taller, and more defined. This one was definitely humanoid. A tall man, thin and lanky. He leaned in close to David's face until he could make out every detail. The man had black hair, it looked slick and oily. His skin was almost white, only faintly colored. His eyes were two different colors, one green, one blue. He had a smile on his face as if he was taking joy from the snow and the pain David was feeling in the freezing air. David could barely see out of his peripheral vision another humanoid shape, this one just standing there, holding its hands up to its face.

"Next time, boy," The man said, breathing putrid air into David's face. "don't try to play hero." He backed away from David into the hard snow, and the original shape, the voices, came closer until he could make out details. A white face with purple around its eyes, and a purple diamond shape on its forehead. It had what looked like two horns of ice on its head as well. It was definitely a pokemon, but it most certainly did not have good intentions.

"_No more pain… no more cold… no more life…"_ It started to breathe cold air on David's chest, air colder than he had ever even thought possible. He looked down and saw ice forming on his body, freezing him. It worked it's way lower until his entire midriff was encased in ice. It continued to breathe on him, working up to his head. Closer, closer… David started to lose consciousness, the pain too much. His eyes closed just late enough to see a bright orange light, and stay awake just to hear the man scream.

* * *

Warmth. Welcome warmth. Death was cold. This was known. Death was freezing. Why warm? Not to say David didn't enjoy the feeling. Soft as well. Fuzzy even. David's eyes fluttered open. Darkness. He couldn't see anything, not even a foot in front of him.

"Hello?" he whispered. Movement. Light. David had to squint as the sudden flame filled the area with brightness. He looked around and saw nothing but rock. He could see the gray on the walls, in its jagged shape. He was in a cave, though he didn't know how he got there. He looked down and saw gold fur under him. It was soft to the touch, and warm. He looked over it and found the fur was attach to tails. Multiple tails. He followed the tails with his eyes until he saw what they were attached to. A fox. The pokemon, a Ninetales by the looks of it, radiated warmth and comfort. Its fur did make a good bed, which seemed to be what David was using it for.

"Well, that was certainly welcome." David said out loud to the Ninetales. The pokemon purred softly and blew flames in another direction, strengthening the light. David followed the direction of the flames and found a pile of sticks on the ground, which the pokemon had caught fire to.

"You… you saved me, didn't you?" David asked. It barked in an agreeing tone. Ninetales was one of the few pokemon who's cry isn't its name. "Haha, well, you can't know how grateful I am. I almost died out there." The pokemon licked his face, and David pet its head. "You make a darn fine pillow too, by the way." It raised its head as if it were proud of that fact.

"Haha, again, thank you. Now… um… do you know how I can get out of here? I was supposed to meet my friend, and I need to get to Eterna. Do you know where that is?" The pokemon stood up and stretched, then sat down, curling its tails around its body. The gold coloring was very pretty, and its eyes were a flaming red. It nodded and stood up again, flipping it's tails in a "follow me" fashion.

David walked behind the pokemon, careful to stay close to it. The Ninetales was using Will-o-Wisp to light the way ahead of them, the ghostly light flickering in front of them. Ninetales led him through the twisting corridors in the cave, the path seeming irregular and complex.

"Do you live in this cave?" It looked back and shook its head no. David got a pokeball out of his bag and released Shade. David thought he could translate what Ninetales could say for him. "Shade, I need a translator." he said.

"Ooh, I love this job! Who's she?" The Ninetales barked and Shade's eyes widened, and then he laughed. "Don't worry, I wasn't planning anything, sheesh. Just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I'm always looking for that."

"What did she say?" David asked.

"Her name is Sarah, and she's just warning me not to be a pervert."

David laughed and shook his head. "Can't blame her for being careful. Now, where exactly are we?" Sarah barked and Shade listened.

"Mount Coronet, rather close to Eterna, which she knows we need to get to."

"Oh good! Thank you, Sarah! I wouldn't be able to do this without you." She purred and quickened the pace.

"She said 'You're damn right you wouldn't be able to!'" Sarah barked again. "We'll be in Eterna within a few minutes, she says. She hopes to catch us again one day, and have a nice journey." Shade translated.

"Thank you. You have no idea how much I needed this." She was right. It was only a few minutes before they found the exit to the cave, leading into Eterna City.

"Thank you for bringing us here, Sarah, and thanks again for saving me." She purred and flipped her tails as she retreated into the cave.

"She says you're welcome, and have a nice day. What's this about saving your life? What happened while I was in my ball?"

"I'll tell you later, don't worry about it. I only almost froze to death. I'll fill you in when we get a room in Eterna." and with that the two walked out of the cave, and into Eterna City.

* * *

**There you have it! Cold, cold, and more cold! I've been looking forward to this part as it has many secret little things you probably noticed, but didn't think much about. Then some that will bother you for a long while to come. Read & Review, Enjoy your day. Oh, by the way, I write these things at midnight and later, so please excuse and spelling or grammatical errors I missed when going over it, as I'm sure they're numerous. I'm sorry about this, but what can you do when you're sleep deprived?**


	4. 4-Companions

**My longest chapter yet, and by far my favorite to write. I've been looking forward to this one! Enjoy as secrets are uncovered... not many, but a few. Haha, read on and see.**

* * *

"Hey! Where are you?" Sabrina asked through the XTransceiver. David had decided to call her to discuss their next actions. After being dropped off by the Ninetales, he and Shade walked the short distance to Eterna. All he would have to do now is go through the Eterna Forest, then it was just a short stretch to Floaroma. David was looking forward to the forest, he had taken many strolls through Lostlorn, so he would be much more at home there.

"I'm in Eterna, like, I just walked in the town. I think I'm going to rest here a bit, though. After my near death on the way here from Snowpoint, I think I deserve it." David told her. Sabrina looked horrified at his words.

"Death?! What happened back there? What did you do?" Sabrina was balistic in worry. She was talking almost too fast to keep up with, and the picture of her face was huge, as she was getting closer and closer to the watch as she spoke.

"Well, it started out nicely, if not cold as heck. Shade and I watched a few wild pokemon going about, doing the things they do. Watched a bunch of Snover for a while, then we ended up finding a family of Wobbuffet. Weirdest thing happened there. I blacked out for a minute, I remember seeing a bunch of different things, like blurry visions. Guess I have some weird dreams. Anyway, when I woke up one of the Wobbuffet was attacking, though I'm not sure what set it off. It managed to knock out both itself and Shade with Destiny Bond, so I ended up having to go on with Counter.

"We finally got into Route 17, but a huge snow storm got brewed up, making it really hard to walk. Eventually I had to put Counter back in his ball because he seemed to be catching a cold. After a while I got too tired, and the storm to treacherous, so I had to stop. I sat on a rock for a moment, but it didn't take long for some other trouble to get me."

"Go on."

"Well, some creep came over with his pokemon and tried to kill me! Whatever it was, the pokemon, under his orders, used Frost Breath on me, encasing most of my body in ice! He told me something like 'don't try to play hero anymore', but I don't really know what he's talking about…"

"Oh my God! How'd you get away?"

"A Ninetales came and saved my life! I kind of went out of it again, but from what I can figure out it chased the man away and thawed me out of the ice. I woke up in a cave with it."

"God, I'm just glad you're okay! Yes, you stay there, don't worry about coming to Floaroma, I'll just come there to you." Sabrina said. "I guess you should do some training, occupy yourself until I get there. It should only take two days or so, I'm in Jubilife right now, it should only take a day to get to Floaroma from here, then it's just through the forest."

"Oh, thank you! It's nice of you to give me less travel now. Don't get hurt, and watch out for ice! Don't trust ice!"

"David, this is no time for jokes. I'll meet you there in a few days. Don't die."

"I seem to have a knack for doing it, don't I?"

"Shut up. Just stay safe." Sabrina sounded sincerely worried, and David could see small tears in the corners of her eyes. "I don't know what I'd do with myself if you died, David." With this she hung up the call, leaving David wondering what he should do to pass the next few days.

A red flash signalled Shade coming out of his ball again. "You heard the girl, train us! Obviously we could use it if a Wobbuffet of all things could take me down!" Shade walked in front of him and pointed south We could just head out there and find some battles, eh?"

"Not right now, Shade. I have a few things to do in town first." David said, walking ahead towards the center of town.

"Such as?" Shade asked skeptically.

"A place to stay for now, maybe some dinner. See what we can do about a mad-man trying to kill me."

"Eh, maybe you're right. It is a little late for training anyhow. Now, on to more important matters. You said it yourself: Dinner." Shade put a hand on his stomach and groaned. "Feed me, David. Can't you see I'm starving over here?"

"Haha, okay okay, food first. Always top priority with you."

"Hey, I just like to eat, okay." The two walked down the streets. The city had grown tremendously in the last year alone. The Galactic headquarters located in the town had been left for years, and eventually re-owned by the city since it stopped being paid for after the team split. After two years of searching the International Police finally caught Cyrus, the mastermind behind the galactic bomb that held a threat over Sinnoh for a long time, and he was put in prison. Now that he had been caught the city of Eterna completely emptied his bank account to finish paying off the building. With this new-found wealth from the imprisoned genius the city had flourished. New buildings everywhere, a larger population, better living conditions. Eterna was currently close to rivalling the popularity of Jubilife.

The buildings along the roads were tall, and there were a few skyscrapers among them. People varied greatly in the bustling place, Business men in suits going to their next meeting, hippies protesting the expansion of the city destroying wildlife, teenagers walking around in rather revealing garb. They passed a man sitting on the ground, unshaven, wearing dirty clothes, and holding a sign saying '_The End Is Near!'_. The sky was very cloudy, probably from the snow from Mt. Coronet blowing towards Snowpoint. Thankfully Eterna didn't have the same conditions, instead being rather warm, much to David's pleasure.

They passed the gym, a grass themed place run by Gardenia. She was known for being difficult, using a rather unpopular type to sneak around what most people are used to. What people really feared when battling her was her Roserade. It was known to sweep entire teams before the trainer even knew what was happening. The Pokemon Center was up the street from the Gym, standing right in front of the former Galactic HQ. There was a restaurant within sight, just a short building in between two much taller office buildings. It was a pizza place, simply decorated outside with a cartoon Unova man, and fluorescent lights that showed the bright word 'Open'.

"In the mood for pizza?" David asked. Shade looked at him with a look that said 'dumbass, what do you think?'

"Of course I want pizza! Since when do I not?"

"Okay then, in we go." They quickly walked into the building and were immediately surrounded by the smell of tomato sauce, and cheese.

"Welcome to Peco's Pizzeria!" someone from the kitchen called. A waitress came to seat them shortly after.

"Hello, welcome to Peco's. How many?"

"Just us two, I believe."

"Make that three, please." David turned and saw Maylene standing behind him. She looked rather red, as if just coming out of a cold place, and she was slightly shivering. She was in her regular short, thin clothes. "Fancy meeting you here, David. I trust it's not a problem of my being here?"

"Oh, no, you're fine, I assure you. The more the merrier, I guess." David answered her. He was surprised at her being here so early. She left much later than him, so he assumed she would be really behind. '_Must've been with that Ninetales longer than I thought...'_

The waitress led them to a table and they sat down. "Do you need time to decide what you would like?" she asked.

"No thank you, I'd just like a regular pepperoni-"

"Zoroark!"

David sighed "Fine, a pepperoni and bacon pizza. Dang it, Shade, can we not just get through one meal without bacon?"

"Zoro." '_Not in my lifetime.'_

Maylene told the waitress what she was ordering and the girl walked into the kitchen. "So I assume you just got here? You're shivering like crazy." David asked.

"Oh yeah. It took longer than I expected, too. Those two routes are generally pretty harsh, but that was a freak storm, I've never seen anything like it."

"I noticed that on my way down. I had to stop at one point just to give the storm time to calm down. It never did. I'm honestly surprised I'm here right now."

"Yeah, but at least you weren't wearing these things." She motioned to her clothes, which David was sure did nothing to stop the wind.

"Hmm, I think you got me beat there." the waitress came back carrying their pizzas. A regular sized pepperoni and bacon for Shade and David to share, and a personal pizza for Maylene. Shade almost instantaneously inhaled his half of the food, finishing before David could even get through half his first slice. Maylene giggled at them while eating her small dish rather slowly.

"Like it much?" she asked them.

"It's good." David told her.

"Wonderful! I haven't had pizza in a long time!" Shade's excited voice was down in a whisper, as to not drag attention to himself.

"Haha, I eat here almost every time I pass through Eterna. It's a good place, not too expensive either." David felt a feeling of stupidity. He had nothing to pay for the meal with.

"Damn…" he muttered under his breath.

"Hmm? What was that?" Maylene asked.

"I just realized I don't have the money to pay for the food…" he told her.

Maylene laughed at him hysterically. "You poor boy. How about this; I'll pay for it, but if I beat you in a pokemon battle you have to pay me back. With interest." she held out her hand at him.

David laughed and shook her hand. "Deal." At the moment the waitress came back with the receipt.

"Here you go, that will be one thousand dollars." Maylene handed her the money and the three left the restaurant.

She led them down the street to the battling area behind the pokemon center. The air had gotten mildly chilly while they were in the restaurant, and the sky was showing the verge of sunset. "Let's make this quick, we don't want to be battling in the dark. How about just a one on one?"

"Sounds good. Counter, out and ready!"

"Tyrogue, time to strike!" Counter was on the field in his regular fighting stance, hopping from side to side with energy. David noticed he was still sniffling every few seconds, though. Maylene's Tyrogue appeared in a similar stance, ready for Maylene to give a command.

"Counter, force palm!"

"Tyrogue, use mach punch!" Counter ran as faster than David thought he could go up to the Tyrogue, then ran around it and making a quick stop right behind, planting his open hand on the back of the scuffle pokemon's head, and knocking it forward a little. This only seemed to enrage the small human-like pokemon. Not even waiting for an order from Maylene it used quick attack on the Riolu, but Counter stood firm, not even flinching from the hit.

"Counter, that's it. Constant vigilance… Use quick attack!" Counter sped up too fast for the eye to follow and reappeared right in front of Tyrogue.

"Mach punch!" Counter beat Tyrogue to the hit, and the small pokemon was pushed back a bit by the hit. It didn't miss a beat getting back up and mach punching Riolu.

The sun still wasn't quite set, though it was getting rather close. David noticed this, but quickly turned his attention back to the battle. "Counter, end this. Force palm!" Riolu seemed to have renewed energy as he dashed to the Tyrogue and slammed his open paw into it's face. Tyrogue fell to the ground, and didn't stand up again.

"Good job, Tyro-" Maylene was cut off by a sudden glow. Both she and David looked and saw Counter shining brightly. It wasn't long before it became too much to look at, and both averted their eyes. It was mere seconds before the light dimmed, and they looked back to see a taller Counter. He had grown almost three feet in size, and his fur had become longer. The two metal plates on his arms had grown into large hand spikes. His ears had also grown in size, now hanging pat his head.

Maylene looked amazed for a moment before giggling again. "Congratulations, David. you won, and it seems you have a new Lucario to play around with. You are collecting gym badges, right?"

David was stunned for a moment before he realized he was being spoken to. "Sorry, wh- oh! Yes, I am."

"Haha, well, I can't wait to battle you officially in Veilstone. Have fun on your journey." Maylene returned Tyrogue to his ball and left, leaving David alone with his newly evolved Lucario.

"Well aren't you a bit taller… I'm willing to bed more powerful, too." Counter sniffled as his nose clogged up. "No less sick though. Come on, you deserve a rest." David pulled Counter's pokeball out of his bag and pushed the button, recalling the Lucario.

"Hmhm, I wouldn't be so fast to get rid of your only defences." an all too familiar voice spoke, seemingly from all directions. David looked around and saw nothing. No one was around.

"Shade, get out!" David called. There was another red flash and Shade appeared beside him.

"Better choice." the voice spoke again, this time from one direction in particular. David looked and saw nothing there. "I bet you're wondering who I am, hmm?" This time every word seemed to come from a different place, as if the voice was simultaneously everywhere. "Let me show myself first." This time from… the ground? A black shadow seemed to grow out of the floor, molding itself into a human shape before him. It was almost like a gaseous blob, but every second gaining more form. First was feet, just plain back dress shoes. The shadow solidified slowly up the rest of a body, though it never changed from the color black until it reached the being's torso, where there was a white rectangle that shortly shaped into a rather nice looking shirt under a black dress coat. The hands in the sleeves were almost paper white. Finally the head of the being gained form, giving a final revealing to the voice. It was the man from Route 16. "Tut tut, you would think one would stay dead, no?"

"Who the hell are you?" David asked. His eyes were darting from side to side, trying to ensure his pokemon weren't with him. He didn't think Ninetales would be there to save him from another freeze.

"Haha, that doesn't matter right now. All that matters is you. You, my dear friend, are all that matters right now. Or more specifically, what I do with you." He snapped his fingers and a blob of darkness came from outside the arena, where the run had finally set, closing the world into night. "You see, now we're in my realm. Darkness reigns supreme, you know. And I control the darkness." He waved his fingers in seemingly random little motions. The small bit of shadow split into multiple little balls, then back into one. It seemed to take the shape of random things, a little amorphous plaything in the man's hands.

"What do you want with me? What are you doing?" David was freaked out. No one could manipulate shadow like that. No one else seemed to want him dead, either.

"Well, this is just one of neat little party tricks. A harmless little thing, really. Though what I really like are when things get a little… less…" he clenched his hand into a fist and the small blob became a dark spike, completely solidified. "Harmless." He moved his hand so he was pointing at David, and the spike came shooting at him. It was knocked out of the way by a quick dark pulse from Shade.

"Beast, I have no time for you. Froslass, come to me." There was a red glow and a floating figure appeared beside the man. It was the same pokemon that had tried to freeze David! It looked around and saw David. It seemed to smile, as if laughing about a prank. It then saw Shade and it took on a look of anger. "Kill it." The Froslass was faster than the eye, darting to Shade and blowing in his face with Ice Breath.

"Shade, no! Dark pulse!" Shade gave off a black ring, it hit the Froslass and knocked it to the ground. It made a clinking noise as it hit the concrete, sounding as if it were made completely of ice.

"You will NOT escape this time, boy. Just face your fate!" He summoned many small balls of shadow from outside to surround him. He seemed to strain as he forced his arms out towards david, shooting the small orbs at him.

"Duck!" Shade yelled at David, and he followed the order without hesitation. He saw a Froslass fly in front of him, being hit by the orbs, and absorbing them. It started to writhe in pain on the ground, not even being able to float. David looked up and saw the man smirk.

"Leave it to die. If it can't protect itself it doesn't deserve to live." He seemed to summon a pokeball from thin air and pressed the button on it, releasing another one of his pokemon. This one was tall, almost human height. It had green hair on it's head, curving around it's face just below it's white, spiked ears. The entirety of it's head was white, except for it's eyes, which were red as rubies. It had long green arms, and seemed to be wearing a white dress. A red shard poked out of it's chest, and as it turned David could see it sticking out of it's back as well. "Gardevoir, assist me."

The human-shaped pokemon looked around to get an idea of what was going on. It saw David and Shade and seemed to form a small tear in the corner of it's eye. '_I'm sorry for what I'm about to do…'_ David could hear a voice in his head, feminine, but not as hollow sounding as the Froslass's voice. This one seemed to have feeling, and sounded like pure sympathy for what it thought was going to happen.

"Shade, take a look at the Froslass, see if it's okay."

"But Davi-"

"Just do it."

"... okay." Shade went to the fallen ghost and tried to see if there was anything he could do to help. It was still squirming in pain, as if unable to do anything else. It looked as if the pain had just completely taken over its mind.

David kept staring at the man and the Gardevoir. "You monster! You just leave a pokemon to die! You don't even seem to worry about it, or feel regret at all!"

"Fool! Regret is for the weak! The only way you can achieve total power is to not feel wretched things like that."

"The Froslass was trying to help you, and you just abandon it! It tried to kill me, and even I feel sorry for it now! Just look at it! Lying there, unable to feel anything but pain!"

"It was weak, and stupid. It shouldn't have gotten in the way of my shadows. I'm tired of this conversation. Gardevoir, get rid of the Zoroark, I can deal with the kid. He summoned more shadow, but this time not in balls, more like a long blade. He didn't hold it, but it instead floating in front of him, obeying the movement of his hands. "Now, if you feel sympathetic for my Froslass, let's start some empathy as well, shall we?" He quickly slashed his arms in front of him, causing the long, sharp line of shadow to cot in front of David, slicing before him, and then… just stop? David opened his eyes and saw the Gardevoir was holding her hands above her, and seemed to be straining her mental powers. The man looked at her with anger and lowered his hands.

"You useless little shit… How long have I been your master?" David heard nothing, but he seemed to get an answer. "And yet, you still work against me, instead helping pitiful little imbeciles like this." He turned around and closed his eyes. He seemed to take a deep breath. "You have tried my patience, girl." He picked a pokeball out of his pocket and held it in front of him. He let go of it, but before it could fall a bit of shadow came and formed a disc under it, holding it in the air. "If you want to instead give your loyalty to worthless beings…" he summoned more shadow, this one creating a disc over the ball. "So be it." The two discs of darkness slammed together, crushing the pokeball to mere dust. The Gardevoir's hands flew to her chest, and her eyes widened. David could hear her trying to breathe in and out, her chest barely moving up and down as she struggled. Finally she lost consciousness and fell to the ground, motionless.

"Fine. It seems I'm not going to get my way today… This is not the last you'll see of me, David. I'll be back, and I'll keep coming back until I get what I came for." The man seemed to melt into the ground, leaving only a black shadow in his place, and soon even that dissipated.

David ran to the Gardevoir on the ground. He felt her wrists trying to find a pulse. There was one, but only faintly. "Shade, the Froslass?"

"She… she died, David. The shadow overwhelmed her." David sat in silence for a moment. That man… that monster… had killed one of his pokemon, and left another in pain. He didn't even feel regret. David went back to holding the Gardevoir's wrist, making sure the pulse stayed. It actually seemed to be getting stronger as the minutes went by.

"Shade, return." There was red as Shade retreated into his pokeball. The Gardevoir slowly seemed to gain her strength back, moving slightly in her sleep, and after a long time opening her eyes.

'_My ball… the bond...' _She groaned in David's mind. It seemed she knew what was going on, at least.

"The man is gone, he left without you. Crushed the ball and left."

The Gardevoir smiled in a pained way. '_I know… the pain… caused by… link crash...'_

"What?" David asked. The gardevoir wasn't making much sense to him.

'_Pokeballs cause… bond links… between pokemon… and trainers… he broke ours… it causes pain to both… of us...'_

"He didn't seem very hurt…"

'_Pain… regret… feeling… none exists… in Vlad...'_

Vlad? His name was Vlad? So that's the kind of person that whips Riolus… the kind that kills Froslass… "Well now I've got a bone to pick with this 'Vlad'. I won't let anyone treat people this way. If only I was more powerful…"

'_No! Vlad's… too powerful… no one can stop him now… he's gained too much...'_

David was having a hard time understanding her. He knew Vlad was powerful, but he didn't buy that he was too great to be beaten. "You're hurt. Come with me, I'll see what I can do."

'_Thank… Thank you, David. I think I can… stand now.'_ She tried to get up, but faltered and fell back. David managed to catch her before she hit the ground and lifted her up, supporting her so she could stand. '_My name is Valorie, by the way. Master Vlad never calls us by our names, though he knows what they are...'_

"Well, Valorie, I'm not the same way. I'd be happy to help you through tonight if you'd like me to."

'_Oh… well, Vlad severed our link… I'm technically wild… I was wondering if maybe I could just stay with you...'_

David was surprised at the suggestion. He thought she would prefer to go out on her own now. "Well, I… I guess that's not a problem. Here, let me just do this, then." David dug in his bad for another dusk ball, which he tapped on Valorie's head. She was sucked inside the ball, and he released her again. He felt a surge of emotion flow through him; sadness, anger, pity, helplessness, hatred...those emotions overwhelmed him. "Agh! What's… What's happening to me?!" He felt pain and misery, torture and despair. David fell to the ground, finding it hard not to scream at the top of his lungs. Then it changed. Hope, happiness, relief, melancholy… calmness. He felt calm. David stood up again, this time needing support from Valorie.

_I'm sorry about that. It's whiplash. All the emotion I felt from my previous master flowed from me to you… That's part of being an emotion pokemon, I can spread my emotions, and receive what others around me are feeling. Though sometimes without my trying.'_

"It's okay, let's just… get out of here…" the two walked through the entrance to the pokemon center, and went to Nurse Joy. "I'd like a room, please."

"Oh, I'm sorry, we're all out. You'd have to share with someone, is that okay?"

"That's fine, just please hurry."

"Okay, go to room six. Have a nice night!" Nurse Joy beamed at the two as they walked into the room hall. David found room six and walked in. He found a man sitting on the couch looking through papers. The man looked up and saw the odd duo. He raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"What are you doing in my room?" He asked.

"Nurse Joy said the rooms are full, we'd have to share. If that's okay with you." The man shrugged and went back to his work. David went to a bed and just sat down, not even bothering to put his pajamas on.

'_Umm… sorry, could I please sleep on a bed tonight? I've been stuck in a pokeball for ages, usually the only times I got out were to watch the Master torture someone. He'd been trying to break me into falling under the pressure and helping him, so I had to watch everything he- he-'_ She got choked back with tears as she spoke, bawling from her eyes. She put her head on David's shoulder and just cried. David pat her back, careful not to touch the spike, trying to comfort her.

"Kid, could you please keep it down? I'm trying to work."

"Sorry sir…" David put his hands on Valorie's shoulders and pushed her back. "It's all right. Get some sleep, you'll feel better in the morning." She nodded her head, her eyes looking a little more red than normal from the tears. She floated herself up to the bunk directly above David and laid down, trying to get to sleep.

David released Shade, and immediately motioned for him to keep quiet. "Pick a bed, we're going to sleep."

"Okay. Who's the guy?"

"We have to share a room, don't worry about it." David told him.

"Ah." Shade got on the top bunk of the other bed and went to sleep, leaving David alone to think. It wasn't long before David just fell to the fatigue of the night, and dropped into sleep.

* * *

**And so we've finally met the elusive Vlad. Now, I want to have a short note and bring something to your attention. Vlad is my OC. There is another story on Fanfiction called Soul Link, by RomeoPlaysYouASong. I entered this character in a contest on that story, and I was guaranteed a spot. I've talked to the author about this, and he says it's okay to use the character since I submitted him. Keep in mind the Vlad in this story, and the Vlad in that story are two completely different people, they are just similar in many ways. Anyway, thank you for reading, leave a review, flame, anything's fine. **


	5. 5-Victory

**Sorry this chapter took so long, I came down with a bad fever and wasn't able to write for a while, so I got better and wrote this on a five hour drive to where my family is moving in a few months. Anyway, sorry for the wait, enjoy.**

* * *

R_unning through the woods, a speed he didn't know he could go blurred as he passed it. Trees leaving behind a streak of brown, bushes green. Everything had a tail of slightly fuzzed color. He was retreating from something, but he wasn't quite sure what… A black form passed by his head, missing by inches. It too had a tail of a dark color, making it look like a black comet. Another went by, scaring David. He looked behind him and saw a man chasing him, summoning shadows and tossing them in his direction. Vlad had a crazed look in his blurred eyes, enjoying the terror he was inflicting upon David._

'_I told you I wasn't through with you, boy' the tall man shot another ball of shade. 'I have you now!' David watched in horror as a sphere came right at his face. He tried to duck, but found himself unable to make the slightest motion, not even twitch a finger. The ball hit him in the center of his nose, it felt like his body was absorbing a kind of thick gas. _

_Light._

_David opened his eyes and found a rather more peaceful scene. Or at least, peaceful compared to another assault from Vlad. The sky was a dark shade of blue, which David guessed placed the time at about right after sunset. He could see off in the distance a small sliver of the bright fiery ball still there, holding up before plunging the world to darkness for the night. David looked around at his surroundings, but found nothing around him. There were no people, no objects, nothing. He was completely alone, except for the now slightly visible stars above him, which seemed to be moving at a rather rapid pace, as he was able to actually see them move. He noticed even here things that moved seemed to have a bright tail, so the stars rather looked like long, bright blades slicing the sky. _

_He felt sad. David looked at the stars and just wondered why. Why did things like Vlad happen to people like him? He hadn't done any-_

_He felt happy. So many things had gone wrong on this journey, though it was only just beginning. Even through everything bad, he had gained friends in his new pokemon, and Maylene. Nothing could be going bett-_

_Fear. He couldn't escape. Darkness surrounded him, and he had no way out. Everything in the world had it out for him, the people, the pokemon, every living thing on Earth. He wouldn't even live to see tomorrow the way things were goi-_

_Argh! What was doing this? There was no cause for these emotions bombarding him! There was nothing around him to make him think, and he couldn't even keep a straight train of thought for more than two seconds! Or at least, it felt like two seconds… David looked to the stars, a tear welling up in his eye. What was happening to him? Was this madness?_

_Something had him in its embrace. David could feel arms around his body, and he looked down to see the feeling was correct. Something was holding him from behind. 'Nothing's wrong with you...' He heard a voice, again sounding odd, and somewhat familiar, but he couldn't place it. 'You'll be fine, I assure you.' The being's grasp became tighter, but even as David had no idea what, or who it was, he felt no fear. In fact, it was the first time since he had appeared in the place his emotions were straight. All he felt was calm. A feeling of tranquility, taken from this unknown form holding him, saying comforting things. Finally its hug was released and David turned to face the being. It was blurred completely, David wasn't able to tell any features. It was the same being as his previous vision with the Wobbuffet! Though its form was still completely unidentifiable, David knew it was more clear than when he last saw it. _

'_Who are you exactly?' David asked it. The form giggled its high, tinkly voice and walked away, leaving its respective streak behind it, just like everything else that moved._

_Darkness._

_David was back in the forest, running. He glimpsed backward a second and saw Vlad controlling a blade of shadow, slashing at David. 'You cannot escape!' he yelled. Vlad slashed a few more times, this round slicing David's back, causing immense pain to the boy. He fell to the ground, unable to handle the agony. He saw Vlad standing over him, now holding the blade, as it had become a full sword, handle and all, completely made of shades. 'I have you now.'_

David gasped as he opened his eyes to see the light of morning shining through the window of the room. This was a good sight for him, considering every other time he woke up that night he had to go through the pain of trying to get back to sleep, knowing what horrors waited for him in his head.

He looked to the couch and saw the man from the night before on a laptop typing, his eyes had bags under them, and the skin was a dark shade of blue. He obviously had slept even less than David. He saw Valorie's long arm hanging over the side of the bed, the pale green coloration a rather funny sight, since it resembled a human arm so much. David gazed to his other side and saw the red and black fur on the back of Shade's head facing him from the top of the other bunk. The boy could hear the Zoroark snoring, still asleep. Valorie didn't seem to be making much noise, which David was just fine with. It would make sleeping easier if it ever came to a point where he could actually get to sleep again.

David raised his arms as high in the air as he could without hitting the mattress above him, stretching his lanky arms to get the tense feeling of being in a similar position for the entire night. He stood up and found his back was also giving him pains. A short, sharp twist got rid of that, but he made a mental note that not all Centers provide the same comfort. Perhaps he'd think about putting out a little extra cash to rent a room in one of the nice hotels that had sprouted up in Eterna. Then he remembered he didn't have any money. The battle with Maylene earned him nothing since she paid for dinner, so he was still broke. He'd need to find a way to get money before Sabrina came back for him.

The man on the couch looked up at David, his sleepy eyes looking almost closed. "You heading out?"

David shrugged. "I think I'm gonna change clothes, then probably will. Why do you ask?" The guy shrugged back and returned to his work, typing at a rather slow pace into his computer. "Would it be a problem to ask what you're working on?"

The man looked back up, his eyes now fixed in an angered glare. If he didn't have those blue bags under his eyes he probably would look slightly intimidating. "Yes, it would be a problem." And with that his face softened and he slowly drifted his face back towards the screen, though David could see his eyes closing every few seconds, a little too long to be a blink.

The boy walked into the bathroom and removed his clothes from his body. They were slightly moist from the cold sweats he'd been having the entire night, though with the dreams he'd been having, you couldn't really be surprised. He turned the knob in the shower until the water was warm and stepped inside.

There was a red flash of light as Counter released himself from his ball. He immediately hit his head on the bunk above him, not being used to his newly gained height enough to avoid it. A slight jolt went over his skull as his nerves were very irritated with him for making such a dumb mistake.

The Lucario looked around at the room he was in. Another pokemon center hotel room by the look of it. He noticed a strange man sitting on the couch looking sleep deprived, which slightly scared the pokemon. He had seen his old master look like that before, and it had always turned out badly for him when it happened. When Vlad was low on sleep, he was often always drunk as well. For some reason he felt this man was no threat though. He wasn't sure how, but he seemed to know that gray glow around him meant nothing. He was actually a rather boring person. Gray was often affiliated with a complete absence of… Well, anything worthwhile. He did notice a small bit of dark red, which would be bad if not mixed in with so much gray.

Rubbing his head, Counter hopped off the bed and took another look around. The gray aurad man looked up at Counter, and shrugged before looking back to his computer. Counter noticed the red get slightly darker, but not much more changed.

He saw Shade sleeping on one of the beds, an aura radiating a very dark red, though Counter suspected he wasn't feeling anger, but rather things he'd rather not know about. What goes on in that Zoroark's mind should probably stay there. There was also someone new, he noticed. A Gardevoir laying on the top of the other bed. Her aura showed that of a bright red, contrary to the room's other inhabitants having a darker shade, which is bad, this one's red was light, indicating it was a good feeling. The red wasn't very powerful though, but neither was anything else in her aura, which was also yellow, violet, white, green, and orange. None of the colors were dark, either, signalling She could only be full of good things and intentions. A person can lie, but they can't control their aura.

The Lucario smiled. He wasn't sure how he knew all this, but he did. He was glad with his new-found power. It would make avoiding people like Vlad much easier. The sad truth was Counter had let himself be caught by the man as a very young Riolu. He had enticed him with his loyal pokemon, a froslass, who sung little melodies in his head, mesmerizing him into thinking Vlad was trustworthy. It wasn't long before he realized his mistake, after only a short time Vlad starting torturing him seemingly for fun. He tried to not do anything wrong, and as far as he knew he never did, Vlad was just set off by anything, and sometimes needed entertainment in the form of abuse. While in Vlad's 'care', if you could even call it that, he only had one friend, a Kirlia whom, like Counter, was often abused, though in different ways. Where-as he was physically pained, Vlad used her for more mental things. Filling her mind with evil thoughts, forcing her to watch him do horrendous things. She would have probably lost her mind if not for Counter's help. He was young, but he knew how to cheer people up, and she often did it in return to him when he needed it after an especially difficult day with the master.

The Gardevoir on the bed stirred. Her eyes slowly opened, still filled with sleep, her scarlet irises barely visible through her eyelids, still half closed. She saw Counter looking at her and her eyes got wide. She lifted her hand and made her sheets float off of her, then she drifted off the bed, landing in a sitting position on the bunk below where she was. '_You're new, yet seem so familiar...'_

"**Familiar? Well, I don't believe I've met you before. Perhaps my memory got messed up during the evolution, though." **Counter answered her. She did seem familiar to him too, but he couldn't quite tell.

'_Evolution is new, then? How recent?'_

"**Just last night, actually. I'm still getting used to the new body."**

'_Oh, haha! I remember when I evolved. I gained three feet in height. It took forever for me to get used to being that tall. I hit my head on just about everything I passed.'_

"**Ha, I hit my head on the bed just a minute ago… A little embarrassing, actually."**

'_Oh don't be, we all go through it at some point. when your body changes so rapidly it's kind of hard to avoid. Sometimes I envy those pokemon that don't evolve at all.'_

"**Heh, I'll probably feel that way in a few days. So how did we end up with you here?"**

'_My master abandon me last night, and David took me in. Crushed my ball and everything. It hurt for the link of the ball to be broken, but the emotional link between Gardevoir and trainer is strong, even if we don't will it, so it was more painful for me than any species.'_

"**Ooh, I remember when my old trainer got rid of me. Crushed my ball too, and I couldn't even stay awake. I dropped into sleep almost instantly! I can't imagine how you stayed conscious!"**

'_I admit, it was rather difficult. David helped me though. You know, it's quite the coincidence David got you from being released too. My old master had a riou he got rid of just a few days ago.'_

No, it couldn't be! "**Oh, where was this?"**

'_Up in Snowpoint, if I remember correctly.'_

"**Wait, you're Valorie! The Kirlia! When did you evolve?!"**

'_Sephino? You are him! I knew you were familiar! I evolved just the day you were released!'_

"**Well, it seems Vlad is donating quite a bit to David, isn't he?"**

'_Haha, it seems so! I'm just glad I'm finally away from that monster! The way he treated us was horrible compared to how David does!'_

"**Didn't he just get you last night?"**

'_Well, yes, but I at least took the liberty of checking his memory to see if I was heading to another hell or not. I saw how he treats you and Shade. Oh, and I guess I should call you Counter now instead of Sephino...'_

"**Yeah, that's my new name. David came up with it."**

'_Yeah, I know. Still, this is abrupt. And I liked that name I came up with for you...'_

"**I know, but we ought to respect David. If he wants us to do something, we might as well do it. We owe him for getting us away from our old master."**

'_That's true...'_

David walked out of the bathroom, fully dressed. He saw Counter and Valorie on the bed, sitting beside each other. He could hear them talking from the bathroom, or at least the lower growl of Counter's new voice. As a Riolu it had been a high puppy voice, but now it was much lower, that of a much larger dog… which he was. He couldn't really hear Valorie's voice since she talked with telepathy. "You two having fun?" He asked, smiling at them.

"Lu lucario."

'_Oh yes, we're very fine! Sephin- Counter and I were just talking. You know, about… our old master.' _Valorie told him.

David's face became grim. "I can assure you, I will never let him lay a finger on either of you again. Though honestly I can only hope he doesn't lay a finger on me at this point…"

'_Well, if you protect us, we'll protect you.' _Valorie stood up and floated to him. '_I also don't believe I thanked you properly for helping me out back there.' _She put her long, green arms around him, pulling the teen into a warm hug. He could feel the warmth of her body through the dress, which felt softer than anything he had ever touched. Silk seemed rough compared to that fabric! She held him there for a few seconds before finally letting go, smiling at him before returning to the bed. There was something familiar in those few seconds, but he couldn't place it.

"Well, are you guys ready to head out?"

'_Well, we are. No accounting for Shade, though.'_ David look over and saw the Zoroark still lying there asleep. David motioned for Valorie and Counter to be quiet, putting his finger to his lips. He crept to Shade and got his face close to the fox's ear.

"WAKE UP!" David yelled, as loud as he dared for the entire pokemon center's residence not to get on his back.

"Wh-what? Hmm?" Shade jumped out of the bed, in an attack ready position. His eyes darting around, looking for an attacker. Then he saw David's scrawny form bent over laughing. "You're hilarious. Now what do you want?"

Valorie let out a small giggle, while Counter's reaction was quite similar to David's, bending over laughing hysterically. "Haha, well-ah haha- I'm sorry- hmhmhm, We're heading out, so I kind of need you awake." David told him, unable to stop chuckling long enough to get the statement out.

"There is this wonderful invention called a pokeball. Use it, damn it!" Shade slapped David in the back of his head. "By the way, that guy doesn't look very happy. What's up with him?"

David turned around and saw the man with the laptop glaring at him

Counter saw the entirety of the man's aura turn a dark red.

"GET OUT! Does quiet mean NOTHING to you?!" He yelled at them.

David picked up his bag and pulled out a pokeball, retrieving Counter. "You heard the man, let's get out!" David quickly left the room, followed closely by Valorie and Shade.. The hall of the pokemon center was painted a light brown, and the floor was carpeted a rather unpleasing shade of yellow, and the smell of humid mold added to the sense of grim displeasure. The quality of this center was nowhere near that of Snowpoint's. Eterna may have gained money for renovations and new buildings and hotels everywhere, but they obviously put no effort into fixing up the center. David, in his fatigue, hadn't noticed any of this the night before. The fear had taken most of his senses, and then the tiredness set in, completely destroying them. The main lobby of the center wasn't very nice to look at either. The white painted walls were closer to a shade of yellow, and the red couches were faded, and felt as if more than a few sticky substances had spilled on them.

It was only a matter of seconds before he managed to get out, between angering the man so much, and the grimy state of the center itself, he had no reason to want to stay any longer than he had to. The world around him seemed void of color. Not black and white, per say, but more of just dulled. Nothing was very bright, it seemed, the vivid color that he usually saw seemed drained. 'What's wrong, David?' Valorie put her light green hand on his shoulder. She could feel his emotion change when they got outside. previously it had been excited, he found it actually humorous that they had made the man, who's name was Zach (she had found out after a quick, and unintentional, check of his mind.) so angry. Now David's emotion had changes to confusion and discomfort.

"Nothing, something just seems off to me. I think Vlad's getting to my head."

He brushed it off, deciding his fear of the queer man had ruined his liking of the world. He couldn't go outside without being afraid Vlad would find him and attack again.

'Okay, whatever you say, David.' Valorie knew something was wrong, but she wasn't the kind to pry if someone didn't want her to. She could always sweep his mind if she wanted, but she knew people tended to get angry when their privacy is invaded. She tried to speed up, quickeding the pace at which she seemed to float. Most pokemon that float tend to be ghost types, but there are some psychic types that do too. Only the most powerful types, though. They have to be able to use minimal power for it, or simple motion could harm them. Gardevoir were indeed one of the most powerful psychic types, only beaten in raw mental power by Alakazam. As it was, the emotion evolution chain were all very adept at using their power from a young age. Even as a Ralts they could control objects with their minds. At that stage they didn't quite have the ability to control it all thouroughly, though. Objects they controlled then have a tendency to float off in a different direction than the one they were aiming for. They also lacked their power over emotion, other people's and their own. Ralts can't feel emotion by itself, they must feed off of other being's. They try to only be around people and pokemon feeling good things, that way they only feel good emotions.

Once they become a Kirlia they can control their own emotions, but not other people's. Psychic power also being more powerful at that age, they could control objects without any odd things happening. Gardevoir were most powerful in the line with Psychic power, being able to control objects, and mental abilities opening up so many other options. Emotions could be transferred to others through their mind, causing other people to feel exactly what the pokemon wanted them to. It took a rather skilled psychic to resist, something very few humans have the capacity to become.

"One moment," David told his two companions. "I'm going to call Sabrina and check up on what I'm to do now." The teen lifted his arm to his face, his XTransciever being just below his chin. "Call Sabrina." He said in a monotone voice.

"Calling Sabrina." the device answered back. There was a short ringing before a teenage girl's face appeared on the screen, which Valorie noticed had an overly large screen for a watch. She remembered her former master using a machine similar to it, but it showed holograms instead of just a picture on a screen. A Holocaster she'd heard him call it a few times.

"David! I'm on my way. I'm in Floroama Towm right now, I'm just getting ready to head into Eterna Forest." She said excitedly.

"Oh good! With that walk you should be here tomorrow, right?"

"Oh yeah, probably about noon. I'm going to camp in the forest for a night, then it's just a short way to the city. What have you done to pass the time?" The girl asked. Valorie couldn't do a mind check since it was just a video, but she could tell just from the way she spoke she was a good person.

"Well, I had dinner with Maylene last night. Then realized I had no money, so we battled over the pay. After that I had another run in with that creep from Route Sixteen. He came over and attacked me again, but this time was... odd. He can control shadow like a pokemon, it's unnatural! Though one good thing came out of it. He got pissed and released one of his pokemon, which I'm now happily in possesion of. Say hi Valorie."

David pointed the screen at the Gardevoir, ans she could see her face show up on the screen. Valorie smiled and waved at Sabrina. "Garde." 'Nice to meet you'.

"Haha, nice! That's a gardevoir, right?" Sabrina asked, surprised he was in possession of such a rare pokemon.

"Yep. You know that guy that abandon Counter in Snowpoint? Her former trainer was the same guy."

"That Vlad dude? God, what are the chances?"

"I'm not calculating that. Anyway, I think he has it in for me. Said that wasn't the last I'd see of him. I thin I'm safe for a while, at least, but I can't help but be a little scared, you know?"

"You should be! If you were calm I'd be very worried! Okay, I'm going in the forest now, so wish me luck!"

"Okay, good luck. Bye. Wait! I was thinking I would challenge the gym today. I'm completely broke as far as funds go, so I thought challengeing the gym would accomplish a badge, and gain some money. Think I should do it now, or wait for you to get here and we'll challenge together?"

"You go ahead and do it now, if you need to. I was looking forward to the battle, but I guess we can do that next time."

"If you don't want me to I won't. I can get by without the money for one day!"

"Oh, don't worry. It's not that important." Sabrina said. She looked just a little down, but she still smiled. It would be a good feign, but you could see a hint of hurt in her eyes.

"Okay, if you think so. Thanks, Sabrina. See you tomorrow!" David said, a grin on his face.

"See you." Sabrina hung up. She sighed and looked up. The trees of Eterna forest almost completely blocked out the sun, only a few light rays glwing through the roof of branches. In the dim light all she could see was green, green of all different shades. She leaned back on the rough bark of a tree. The smell of honey and flowers surrounded her. She had really been looking forward to training with David before the battle, and then going at it together to cheer each other on. If he needed to do it now for the money, she wasn't going to try and stop him, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt her a little.

"Oh well, I guess I'll leave him to it then. There's always the next gym." She thought. She looked back down and took a step. Then found her other leg unable to move. Confused, she turned and looked down at her foot, which was not covered in a white, sticky, string-like substance. Beside her foot, seeming to spit the stup was a small Caterpie. "Eugh, bugs." Sabrina shook her foot to get free of the string shot, then walked off further into the forest.

* * *

David stood outside the gym, trying to get himself ready for the battle. It was going to be a three on three, that much was sure. Gym leaders always caused you to go against the same number of pokemon as there was in your team, so three for David. What pokemon she was going to use was a mystery, but Gardenia liked grass types, so it was likely to be one of the plant based pokemon. He had put Shade back in his ball, not wanting to have multiple pokemon out when he went in the gym, that way he could surprise the gym leader. He didn't want to put Valorie in her ball, as she was still recovering from Vlad. She had told him she spent most of her time in a ball, unable to get out without suffering some new pain. Being free of the capsule, and the torture was a new experience for her completely, which David preferred she enjoy for as long as possible.

'Are you ready?' Valorie asked. David looked at her, the sun directly above her head in the distance, the morning having it not very high in the sky yet. It seemed to be shining directly on her, making her glow like an angel. The green hair on her head mixed with a brightly shaded yellow, and the white of her dress glowing in the radiant sphere's light. David thought it looked nice, it made him smile thinking of how wonderful he felt for a pokemon that he just got mere hours ago.

"Yeah, I think it's time." The two walked into the gym. The first thing they noticed was the room smelled of flowers. And rotting animals. They both developed grimaces at the offending stench. There were plants everywhere, different colors, sizes, and shapes. Mostly green, though. The room looked very much like a rain forest, the walls unidentifiable for ivy, crawling and creeping along the trees in every direction. Large leaves, hints of purple on the ends, tall trees growing out of the ground. The floor seemed not to even be a floor, just the ground surrounded by walls, topped by the gym roof, which from the inside was a large illusion of sky and clouds, making the entire building look like a giant jungle.

"Welcome to the Eterna Citry gym! Home of Gardenia's grass types!" A man walked over to them, giving them a greeting to David's first gym. "My name's Clyde, it's nice to meet you. Gardenia's over in the back, just follow the path to get to her. Please do not stray off the walkway, though, she prefers her plants be left."

"Thank you... Clyde, you said? Yes. Thanks for the greeting."

"You're welcome."

David shook Clyde's hand and went to the path. The plants all around them were virbrants colors, flowers of blue, purple, red, orange. The smell of rotten flesh got stronger as they walked on, though they were unable to find the source. Through all the different shades of green, none managed to match the calming color of Valorie's skin. The walk was interesting with all the different types of plants, but eventually became dull. One can only hold interest in things that resembled eachother for so long. The only thing that was amazingly different from the other plants they were only just approaching. It was a tall piece of folage, a pale green, or perhaps a very light brown, surrounded by green leaves tipped with purple. It stood about six feet tall, towering over David and Valorie easily. The smell of rot seemed to eminate from this one plant, causing them both to reel in disgust. "Wonderful, isn't it?" A lady walked out from behind the large plant. "It's called a Corpse Flower. It eats flies, and any living thing that cares to land inside of it, getting trapped in a pool of acidic goo inside. It smells of rot to attract flies and such. It's actually a mixture of many different organisms, all bunched together to form this. It's amazing, though the smell is a little extreme, I admit." She was dressed in a green T-shirt, and baggy light brown jeans. Her hair was auburn, and cut short on her head, almost like a dome.

"My name's Gardenia, I'm the gym leader of Eterna. You're here for a battle, aren't you?" The lady questioned.

"Yes! And thank you for that... intriguing explanation. Shall we get started then?" David asked. He reached into his bag and took hold of a pokeball, but didn't pull it out yet.

"Oh haha, not here! I couldn't risk harming my prized possession! You came on a good day, by the way, it only blooms once a year, and here it is!"

"I feel honored."

"You should. Follow me, I have a special battling area set up." She walked onto the part of the path leading farther into the gym. David took no hesitation following the gym leader, Valorie levitating closely behind. As they walked off the smell became less apparent, which both visitors were thankful for. David wasn't sure how he would have fared with that distraction beside him. It wasn't a very long walk before Gardenia stopped in a clearing. It was a large rectangle in shape, with white lines painted on it to show the arena's set-up. The ground itself was just grass, nothing special about it.

"And here we are! What kind of match will this be?" Gardenia asked.

"A three on three would be nice, thank you." David said.

"Okay, some extra rules. Switch outs count as faints, if you kill a pokemon you lose, and I will personally kill you. I assume you'll be using that pretty Gardevoir of yours?" Valorie smiled and turned away as a red blush appeared on her face. The red was contrast to her usually milky white skin, which David found rather cute on the humanoid pokemon.

"Yes, I will."

"Haha, well, I can't wait to see what others you have up your sleeve. Grotle, come on!"

"Shade, time to strike." David said calmly, releasing from his ball. The were-fox appeared in a fighting postion, very similar to the one he woke up in.

"Gym time! Finally!" He said, his voice a low, humored growl.

"He talks?" Gardenia looked rather confused. Of course, this was a natural reaction.

"Illusion stuff, he's just able to give the illusion he's talking." David told her.

"That's... confusing..."

"I know, it took a while to figure it out myself, I assure you."

"Haha, well, let's get this started! Grotle, vine whip!"

"Dark pulse. Stay out of range of the vines!"

Two large green appendages came out of the grass turtle's bush like shell. They seemed to grow to an impossible length, being able to stretch unfathomable distance. Shade tried to avoid the whips, but he did find it difficult. They were long, and Grotle seemed to have complete control over them, their very ends following his every movement. Finally he looked like he'd had enough of the annoying vines. Shade used night slash and cut off the end of one vine, causing Grotle to wince, and the other vine went off in a different direction. Shade spotted the moment and seized the chance to shoot off a dark pulse, enveloping the turtle in darkness. Unlike Vlad's shadows this just passed right through, doing damage, but not near powerful enough to kill most anything but a human. Vlad's shadows would be absorbed by the victim it hit, while a dark type move such as dark pules merely passed through.

Thr Grotle fell to its knees for a moment before getting up again. "Leech seed, then ingrain." Gardenia commanded. The turtle shot off green pods at the Zoroark, who wasn't fast enough to avoid them. He was hit, and the little green seeds buried themselves into his fur, latching on so he wouldn't be able to get them off. While Shade was struggling with the seeds the Grotle sent roots into the ground, regaining health as he did.

"Shade, stop struggling, it won't help. We're just gonna have to knock this thing out before things get too bad. Another dark pulse!" Shade obeyed immediately. He left the seeds alone, though he noticed they caused slight itching on his chest. He tried to concentrate and build up power before releasing the pulse, giving the turtle just enough time to smack him with its one remaining vine. Shade was hurt, but he wouldn't show it. After a few more seconds of being hit the hard green lashes he released his powerful ring of darkness. It engulfed the grotle, making it grimace, and threw it a small ways, flipping it to its back.

Gardenia's eyes became dinner plates. "Grotle, use your vines to flip yourself over!" It tried to use its vine to lift the weight of its body, but found one vine wasn't strong enough. He relied on his other vine to have the strength for things like that.

"Shade, he's down, night slash repeatedly!" Shade smiled at his luck and dashed to the side of the turtle. He quickly ducked as the vine swung over his head, raising a claw to cut it off as well. With his last vine gone, the grotle was helpless.

"Giga drain!"

The grass type shot off roots that latched onto Shade, sucking the life out of him and restoring Grotle.

Shade fell.

"Shade!" David ran to his friend and grasped his face. Shade's eyes were closed. He had been knocked out.

"Shade, return. You did good, buddy. Okay, Gardenia, you wanna play tough? Let's get tough! Counter, up and ready!" The Lucario formed on the ground, accompanied by a red flash.

"Okay, let's see... Force palm!" Counter ran to the still up-side-down Grotle and punched its stomach, first with his palm, then with the back of his hand, which had now gained a spike. The Grotle's eyes closed as it lost its breath. Completely knocked out after the fight, Gardenia retrieved her pokemon.

"Okay, one down to both of us. No damage done to your Lucario. Let's see... How about... Tangela?" A short pokemon, about two feet tall, appeared on the feild. It appeared to wear bright red shoes, and its face was completely covered by dark blue vines, all except for its eyes.

"Hmm, interesting... Counter, can you flash cannon?"

"Lucar."

_'He said he thinks so, but he's never tried it.'_

"Thank you, Valorie. Okay, try it then. Flash cannon!" Counter put both his hands together in a praying position, widening the space between them as a gray ball developed in his hands.

"Tangela, try giga drain." The Tangela shot off roots that looked similar to the Grotle's, latching onto Counter, making him lose his focus. The jackal lost his hold on the ball of steel energy, and it flew off in a random direction, bouncing off trees, the ground, and leaving scorch marks everywhere it hit.

"Hey! Be careful! Don't hurt my plants!" Gardenia's eyes were full of fire. Counter could see her aura turning a dark red, a color he was finding to be very common in people. The rest of her aura was still rather green, like her plants, but there was definitely red in there. She was not happy.

The sphere kept bouncing around until it finally powered down, smacking the Tangela in the back of the head. It fell on its face, if you could call it that under the vines, but quickly pushed itself back up, its tough appendages straining with the weight. For such a tiny thing, it weighed quite a large amount. Counter seemed to take the giga drain very well, not even flinching as he was hit by it. "Okay, wait a moment." David told his partner.

"Vine whip!" Gardenia ordered. The Tangela used vines from its back (reluctant to show its face it wouldn't risk using the front vines) and smacked Counter as hard as it could. Again, the Lucario seemed to take nothing bad form it, instead a confused look was on his face. "Tangela must not be very strong..." He decided.

"Counter, use counter." Lucario smiled at the command. He used his spikes on the back of his hand to stab at the small pile of ivy. It fell down, but pushed itself back up, not taking much damage either.

"Tangela, return." Gardenia said, calling the pokemon back to its ball.

"Huh? But its not knocked out! You just wasted a pokemon!"

Gardenia didn't grant an answer to this other than releasing another pokemon. "Roserade, time to shine." A green feminine pokemon appeared on the ground. It was about four feet tall, and made up of leaves and vines. It's hands were instead different colored flowers, and it's hair seemed to be white flower petals. The Roserade's eyes were yellow, and surrounded by a green masquerade mask. "Sweet sent." Gardenia ordered. The rich small of flowers wafted through the air, ridding the area of all traces the corpse flower left there. "Petal dance."

The Roserade began to dance in an odd way, summoning petals and leaves off of the surrounding folage in the gym. "This is my most powerful pokemon, and the reining contest winner on my team, mind you. You're powerful, David, I'll give you that. Time to give my trump card." Gardenia smiled as she spoke, knowing there was nothing David could do to avoid her next shots.

The brightly colored flowers from all around the gym began to spin in a tornado like fashion in front of Roserade. Finally it seemed happy with it, releasing the attack onto Counter. The Lucario was defenseless against the raging storm of plants, and he was caught up in, thrown into the air easily, then landed with a thud on the hard dirt. Counter fell unconscious.

David sighed, two pokemon down on his team, it wasn't looking too good for him. "Counter, return." A red flash signalled the Lucario moving back into his ball. "You deserve a rest, you did well out there. Valorie, on the feild!" David shouted. The Gardevoir levitated to infront of David. It seemed a wind passed through the gym, as her gown seemed to drift along in a breeze. It was mesmerizing, actually, but David couldn't let himself be distracted.

"Valorie, psychic." Valorie her arms to her chest, holding the chest spike in her hands. He closed her eyes for a moment. They were surrounded in a blue glow, a sign that she was using her powers at a very powerful degree. Roserade was lifted into the air. The flower pokemon was visibly struggling against Valorie's psychic pull, but there was no defense against that powerful an attack. A full powered Psychic was nothing to be trifled with. Roserade continued to fly into the air until her head hit the ceiling. Valorie looked up and decided it was high enough. She visibly moved her arms down to the ground rapidly, causing the flower to fly at the grass, landing very hard on its side. Knocked out.

Gardenia was at a loss for words. David had beaten her. "You- you took down Roserade... with one hit... no one's ever done that before..." She was covered in sweat, the heat of the battle exciting her, but now that it had ended she was calming down. "Come on boy, you deserve this badge!" Gardevoir grabbed a gym badge out of her pocket, a green pod shape. David took the prize from her hand. "And of course your money winnings. One hundred will suffice?"

"Of course. And thank you, the battle was very enjoyable." David said, accepting the one hundred thuosand dollars.

"You're very welcome, and you entertained me as well. Good luck on your journey."

"You too."

David was in the warm embrace of Valorie. _'We did it! Your first gym badge!'_ Valorie was just as excited for their victory as David was. He had beaten Gardenia on his first try, something people rarely did, and one shotted her strongest pokemon!

"No, Valorie, you beat her. If not for you I would have lost." David said, hugging her back. He still enjoyed feeling her dress. Its texture was almost addictive. He could also feel the green hair on the side of his face, soft as her dress.

_'Haha, well, if not for you I wouldn't have known what to do. A pokemon needs her trainer.'_ Her hold tightened one more time before the hug ended. It was no surprise her kind was the embrace pokemon. As she backed away from David to respect his space David could see her entire form. The sun shining overhead, the sky perfectly blue, Eterna Forest erected right behind her. The perfect scene, a beautiful background with a smiling pokemon in front of it.

"You give me too much credit. Come now, we need to celebrate!"

_'What were you thinking?'_ the Gardevoir asked.

"How about lunch that I can actually pay for?"

The air was cold in the forest. Night had come rather quickly, since you could barely see the sun during the day. Sabrina had wasted no time setting up camp as soon as the sun started to set, being smart enough not to wait long enough for darkness to set in.

* * *

She had very little trouble with the pokemon in the forest, her most troubling problem was a Ghastly that snuck up on her. She easily fought it off with Eevee, since it wasn't affected by ghost types, and she knew bite to attack it with.

"Dreeeaaaa."

What was that? It sounded like a little girl. What was a child doing in the forest at that time of day? Sabrina recognized this as strange right away.

"Dreeeaaa."

It seemed to come from all directions

"Miiiiii."

It was starting to sound creepy. Not like a child, but more like a-a banshee.

"uuuuussss."

It sprang from the bushes, tackling Sabrina to the ground.

* * *

**Yes! Finally broke the 5,000 words, this chapter going up to 7,000! Expect a consistency of that, and probably longer as time goes on! Also, a side note: I'm writing in a hotel right now, on a laptop... breaking the fourth wall was completely unintentional, I assure you. Read and review, PM for questions you may have, but I won't spoil anything, promise.**


	6. 6-Scorch

**And here's chapter six! Enjoy!**

* * *

The restaurant had an air of excitment inside. People walking around, talking at a volume louder than normal, everyone trying to overshout another. The walls around them seemed rather small, the vast number of people giving the illusion of it being a very small room. Everything tinted shade of yellow, the lights of the overhead bearing down and making things warmer than they already were, which with so many people pushing against eachother, was very hot.

The smell of celebratory drinks wafted, people's breath going straight into everyone else's face, but no one cared, no one was paying much attention anyway. Drinks were spilled on the floor rather often, drinks getting pushed around in the sea of people. Most of the people were half-way dressed up. What at first glance would seem like well kept attire, with closer examination were riddled with stains, and other unidenifiable things.

Music played from one end of the, contrary to first thought, large room. Fast paced melodies that seemed to float over the crowd, but it didn't take long for the sound to dissipate in the shouting of the people. A piano playing with quick pace, accompanied by saxaphones, trumpets, guitars, basses. A beautiful mix that was sadly lost, yet those that were sober and close enough to the musicians found it enjoyable.

Drunken boys approaching young girls, flirting back with quick seductive glances. This took up a large portion of the restaurant's visitors. Quick couples being formed, then leaving each other before an hour had passed, only to find other people mere minutes later. The slowed minds of every person causing their judgement to reach an all time low.

David sat at a table in the corner, close enough to the musicians to hear the music, but he still was not able to see them through the crowd. Valorie had gone off to the bathroom. David knew she hadn't been gone very long, but he still suspected it was just the crowd bothering her, not the need to use the room. He had not had a single drink the entire night, and was actually quite bothered by the rambunctious sea of people.

All the drunkards and partiers had come in quite a time after he and Valorie. They had just been enjoying the evening after the defeat of Gardenia, a dinner in a nice place seemed a good idea at the time. He regretted it after half an hour. The building was almost empty except for he and his Gardevoir. They ordered their food and talked, granting quick glances to the people who came in. First they saw were the musicians, carrying their instruments, and setting up to get ready for the night. After that people came in; young couples set on having a night together, old drunkards there to drown their memories, college students there for the excitement. They were not that much of a problem, just other people there to eat.

Then the music started.

People got up and started dancing, having a good time. Smiles floated across the room, never ceasing to lose their brightness. People kept coming in, a pitiful group of irrisponsible partiers coming in for another endless night. Drinks were being served without stop, to every person that walked in the doors. There were a few young teens that looked too young for them to be legally intaking such things, but they were served nonetheless, the bartender seemed too busy to notice what the person ordering looked like anyway. It became too crowded to move too much, even shifting an elbow would smack someone in the back of their head. Even if you did accidentally hurt someone, they'd never find you. All it took was simply drifting farther into the crowd to avoid them.

Valorie quickly became uncomfortable. She had been around Vlad when he was intoxicated, and it always ended in pain for her. Such a large group of people intaking alcohol put her out of her wits. The college aged boys especially. They were seen continuously finding girls, touching them in ways they would never dare to sober, and walking away again to find new prey. David tried his best to calm her down, but she would not fall for it. Eventually she told him she had to use the restroom and walked off.

David, as stated, had not intaken any intoxicating substances, but he was sure the smell was slowing down his brain. Similar to his dreams, everything within sight moved with a slight blurred tail, as if in slow motion. The movement caused mirages were not quite as bad as the visions, but still noticable. Valorie returned to the table after only a few minutes. She looked much more calmed than she had been when she left. Before her eyes were darting from side to side wildly, as if she were terrified someone would grab her at any moment, which when you look at their surroundings, could easily happen.

Now she could control the movement of her scarlet eyes, and the finger tapping she had been doing rapidly out of nerves had ceased. 'I think I'm okay now.' David heard in his head. She was still a little shaky, as her voice in his mind showed. It stuttered slightly, but otherwise kept an almost emotionless veil.

David grabbed her hand and squeezed it slightly, smiling. "Don't worry, nothing's going to happen to you here. I'd not let it happen." he said certainly. She looked at him and tilted her head. She didn't understand, it seemed.

_I can't hear you... It's too loud in this place._ her high, tinkly voice told him. He was still getting used to having the psychic pokemon talk in his head. She leaned back away from the boy and seemed to look just past him. _Can I look in your mind? I don't like doing it without the person knowing. You know, I wouldn't want someone seeing all my thoughts all the time._

"Why do you need to do that?" She signalled with another tilt of her round head that she could not hear him still. It was no wonder she was having a hard time. The music was speeding up, the people shouting still, and it looked like a fight was breaking out on the other side of the building.

She looked like she was just shrugging off the misunderstanding. _If you think what you want to say I'd be able to tell what you're talking about.'_she explained. Now David understood. Much easier to hold a conversation when both participants can hear each other. Though that really was not hearing as much as sensing.

The teen nodded his head yes. His vision went black for a moment, bringing a sense of blindness he really did not enjoy. Thankfully this only lasted a second before he could see again. He felt naked. Not in a physical sense, but he felt that everyone around him knew everything that went through his head.

_Don't worry, I'm the only one who can hear what you're thinking, so everyone else has no idea what's going on._ the Gardevoir leaned back in towards him, breaking her concentration, which she no longer needed now that she was in David's mind.

'_So this is supposed to work?'_ he asked Valorie. She was a psychic type, so it was not that surprising that she had such mental power to read poeple's minds. '_Interesting, people not being able to overhear our conversation.'_

_That is a perk of mental power, yes._ the Gardevoir smiled at the new connection. It was nice having someone trust her enough to let her do that, even if he only knew her for two days. Getting into someone's mind like that gave her complete access to all of his thoughts, memories, and actions. If she wanted it would be relatively easy to convince him to do anything, having control over emotions.

'_So, are you more comfortable now? You weren't gone very long, and it doesn't take being a Gardevoir to tell when someone's bothered._ David asked, concern coming into his thoughts. The people around were definitely not to be trusted to too much, and this could understandably get in her head.

_Yes, I am. I was just surprised at the quick rise in people. I'm not used to it. Plus being a Gardevoir around people like this could hurt me mentally..._ Being in control of emotion also put her at risk of the same thing. She was able to tilt a person's emotions into something that more suited her, but if she got caught off guard a person's emotion could overtake her. All the people around acting the way they did could easily get into her head if she wasn't careful, which would cause her to act similar to them, only without complete control. It would taint her thoughts to be similar to theirs.

'_What do you mean it could hurt you?'_ David asked. The notion intrigued him, and as her trainer he should know how best to care for her. Valorie could hear the concern in his head. She could hear everything that went through his mind after all, so she could see if he was truly worried or not.

_If their emotions get in my head I'd become very similar to them without being able to control it until their influence is out of range._ She was touched by his general concern for her, it was much more than Vlad had ever done for her.

'_If people around you can cause your emotions to corrupt, what kept you from going insane around Vlad? I mean, he's insane obviously, how did you not develop that?'_ This bothered David. How was it possible she had avoided it? But at the same time, he had to ask; how could something so sweet as her have to potential to be as wicked as Vlad?

_A mental blockage. When around him I always expected to be influenced by the emotions inside him, which generally consisted of hate and malice. Since I knew how he was going to be it was possible to block his emotions out. A Gardevoir can only truly be influenced if not ready for it, so my fear here was, and actually is, completely irrational. I can't really help it though; if you were plagued by the possibility of something like that, wouldn't you be careful around anyone with bad emotions?_ as they "spoke" she was keeping a mental check on the entire crowd. All the overlapping feelings, senses, actions, thoughts, everything mixing together into a complex soup. It took a lot of effort to keep tabs on everyone around her, making sure none were going to get out of control.

'_Well, at least there's some defence.'_

Their mental conversatoin was intterupted. A middle aged woman sat down at their table, right between the two. She smelled largely of wine, and her eyes showed she had been drinking a lot, and for a long time. She was wearing a black suit, or rather a skimpy uniform, low cut at the breasts, and with no leggings other than a thin netting. She smiled at David, her alcohol ridden breath rushing over the boy's face. She looked as if she was trying her best to look seductive, but she was having a hard time with her hindered brain moving slower than she'd like.

"Some party, huh?" She asked they boy. Her voice was low and gravelly, at least for a woman. Nothing about her was pleasing to the eye, nor ear. Her black hair was a mess down her back, and it looked as if it had been put up earlier in the night, only to fall down. The rat's nest was full of bobby pins, just sticking out, not holding anything in place. She had lip stick smeared off of her mouth, and a little further onto her face. It was obvious she had tried to re-apply while still intoxicated.

"Eh, I'm not one for parties." David told her simply. He was rather annoyed with her randomly coming up to them. He scooted slightly away from her on the circular table, trying to get the smell of alcohol, which he really didn't enjoy, away from him.

"Oh, you just haven't been welcomed yet. Benson! Bring me some champagne!" the lady called out to the bartender. He nodded in her direction and started to pour the drink. "He's a good man." She turned to David and scooted slightly closer to him. "My name's Lortia, by the way. Who're you?"

"David, it's a..." David had to stop and think of a word for the occasion. "Pleasure to meet you..." he lied through his teeth, but held out his hand to the Lortia, to be polite if nothing else. He honestly just wished she would go away. He heard a tinkling laugh in his head, which he recognized as Valorie's. She seemed to be enjoying his uncomfortable feeling, if only for amusement.

_Don't worry, I feel the same as you, but I'm not the one being harassed._ Valorie continued to laugh in his head, her physical hand going to her mouth trying to cover it.

Lortia seemed to just stare at his hand in confusion before shrugging it off as nothing. Benson, the bartender, walked over and handed her the drinks. She took them, but otherwise refused to acknowledge the man's existence. He seemed not to mind and instead walked off to tend to the other drunkards. Lortia held out one of the small glasses in David's direction. "Have a drink, you'll enjoy yourself more." She insisted.

"No thank you, I don't drink." David said, motioning with his hand to take it away. She was really starting make him angry with this sudden refusal to leave.

"Oh come on, you'll like it." She pushed it closer to him. "And besides, this won't match up to what else I have planned for you." Lortia breathed out quietly. She got close to his ear, but didn't say anything, just kind of stayed like that, breathing.

David tried not to react very much, not even moving his head. "I don't know what you mean by that." He was starting to sweat, and his face was becoming bright red. The little scuffle from earlier had turned into a large fight, two people throwing beer bottles at eachother, every one missing by a lot in their intoxicated states.

Lortia made a slight motion with her arm, placing her hand on the boy's inner thigh. "You're gonna feel good tonight, David." She continued breathing in his ear, an unpleasant, and rather akward feeling.

'_Valorie, help me!'_ He thought desperately. He had been hoping just to let things happen and she'd get bored eventually, but it seemed that would not be that case. She was getting much too close for comfort.

Valorie agreed with her friend. Lortia was quickly becoming a problem.

"Oh come on, kid, I won't hurt you." Lortia had almost completely shifted onto David's lap, whispering softly in his ear, her drunken breath blowing past his nose, causing him to gag. She stiffened suddenly. She seemed to lose all emotion, and instead stood up and walked a short way into the crowd before going back to normal and looking back to David.

'_Was that you?'_ David thought to Valorie. She said she could tilt a person's thoughts to her favor, but controlling their movement? David looked at her surprised at this power.

_Well, it's not something I'd do very often, and it was only for a second. She was becoming uncomfortable for the both of us._ She was radiating raw emotion. Lortia had irritated her more than a little, Valorie was giving off mass anger, irritation, and... one other... he couldn't quite place it, but it was not like the other emotions she had coming off of her.

_'I say we get out of here before she comes back.'_ David stood up to leave, and it didn't take long for Valorie to follow suit. They had already paid, the only reason they were still there was neither of them particularly wanted to wade through the crowd. It seemed that it would be unavoidable, though. Holding hands as to not lose eachother, the two started pushing through the on-going partiers. David looked back just in time to see someone spill a cup of wine all over Valorie.

_'Valorie! Are you okay?'_ He went back slightly to see if she had any glass stuck on her. It seemed the cup, luckily, didn't break, instead just pouring the red liquid all over her. The white dress would surely stain, and there was no replacement since it came with her evolution. At least, that's what he thought. He watched the red drink seem to seep off the thing, as if it wasn't even made of fabric, but instead glass or metal.

_I'm fine, nothing but a little wet hair. Now I'm gonna have to take a shower tonight..._ the Gardevoir pouted. David was slightly amazed at the dress's clean state. Her body showed no signs of the spill except for her slightly wet hair, which would no doubt also be sticky at this point. The boy found himself not too fazed by this, though. Valorie had proved herself capable of many strange things already.

"Oh David, here you are!" David turned and saw Lortia pushing through people toward him. She had more red lipstick on her face than before, showing she had decided to "touch up" before finding the boy again. She made quick process though the crowd, reaching him in mere seconds.

'_Oh not again..._' he thought. She grabbed onto his arm and started attempting to pull him back into the heart of the party. She seemed not to have too much strength, though, not even making him budge.

"Lortia, I was really just going. Maybe some other time, okay?" David tried to pry her off of him, getting very annoyed with her presence. He was considering getting Valorie to use her powers to get her away again, but was stopped in his thoughts. Lortia let go of his arm, and stared at his face, her eyes showing annoyance, and her mouth showing disbelief.

Her demeanor changed suddenly into that of fear. She fell on the ground and started crying, at least, acting like she was crying. It was honestly pitiful how bad her acting was, though she didn't really have much control of her mind at that point, so David found it hard to call her a bad actor. "You monster, get away from me!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

What? What was she talking about? She had been harassing him! "I won't do it! You can't make me! Some one! Help me! Rapist!" She creamed louder, attracting the attention of everyone in the restaurant. David looked around at the crowd, which was now staring him down with tired, drunken, angered eyes.

"Shit..." David grabbed Valorie and started to run. There was no way they would be able to talk sense into a bunch of people like that, and with the show of violence earlier he did not want to be caught in the middle of a fight. The door was within reach, just a few more feet.

Then he tripped.

A hand came down and lifted David into the air, the scrawny boy unable to fight the attacker's strength. Her looked up and saw a beard. The beard was attatched to a full, chubby face. The man's blue eyes were glaring David into fear beyond tears. The guy was made of muscle, large arms with bulging biceps. _'I'm going to die today.'_ David's thought was certain. Completely devoid of emotion or anything. Just certainty.

_Not today, David._ Valorie lifted her hand used psychic on the man. His hand unclenched, releasing David to fall on the ground again. He screamed in pain, the psychic was obviously too powerful for a regular human to handle easily. All it took was that, a rather weak move from a gardevoir, to force the large man close to unconsciousness. That was illegal.

'_Get out of here! Now!'_ David grabbed Valorie and tried to pull her out of the restaurant. She started to levitate, making it easier to move. Then it stopped. David was pulled back a little, and he turned to see a hand holding Valorie. He watched as her eyes started to glow, and another psychic was used. The hand holding her was large, and a golden piece of metal intertwined between his fingers. Valorie's psychic threw him off of her, back into the crowd. His arm landed one another's shoe, also metal, creating a spark from the metal on metal friction.

The building lit up like a torch.

"Run!" Now that they were out of the building it was easier to get away. Just running down the street, heat from the building burning their backs as they went. David risked one look back and saw a large stream of people running out and away from the fiery restaurant. The alcohol from the night, all those drunken people, the heat from the crowd... it was perfect for a show of the bright orange, yellow, and green flames. People ran out, very few fine, a couple completely lit on fire. The air itself was a burning fuel, quickly lighting everything else around it. The buildings surrounding the eating facility easily caught, the intense flames spreading rapidly throughout the town.

Through all the renovations, all the money, all the fixing and construction, building and creating, businesses growing and growin! All that work, all that money, all that wonderful fortune the town had! All was built! There was nothing they didn't have in the town.

Except a fire station.

The town was doomed from the start.

There was no way to stop the flames from spreading, no way to protect Eterna's business made empire. The barely blossoming town... burning to the ground. David knew there was nothing he could possibly do. No amount of help. Water type pokemon could try, but there's only so much they could do... the flames were too much, the town would be halfway gone by the time the fire could be put out.

_It'll be okay, David. It wasn't your fault..._ Valorie tried to comfort him in his mind, trying to bring all blame off of him. There was a hint of something strange in her voice, though. A mix of two things that should almost never go together. David could hear it in her voice, and feel it in his own body as she softly gave off the emotions. Shame, guilt... and pride, pleasure.

David was suddenly afraid of his new found friend, pride and pleasure from burning down a building, most likely ending the lives of most there. But still, he found it impossible to just leave it there. He would have to approach that later. The shame for what had happened vastly over-powered her good feelings on the disaster. She needed comforting just as much as him.

"Valorie, I know you feel bad about it too. It's not your fault either." by now he was pretty sure he was far enough away from the flames to avoid it a while. He grabbed the Gardevoir's shoulders and looked into her eyes, which were filled with tears, but none were dropping. She was trying not to let them. "You weren't trying to do that. You tried to get free, that's all. You did not cause the fire, this isn't on your head." David thought. He needed her to feel better. The emotions in her that scared him were there, but quickly going away, replaced with more guilt, and mild fear, though fear for what he wasn't sure.

_If I hadn't done that... it wouldn't have happened... I was keeping emotion tabs on all those people... all those lives... so many are gone. One moment I could feel everything, then the next... nothing. I-I killed so many..._ she could not hold back the tears anymore. Drops of clear liquid dripped down her face at great speed, her eyes becomeing red and puffy.

She felt something surround her and opened her eyes to David, holding her in his embrace. "It's okay, Valorie. It'll be okay. You didn't do anything but try to get free. You aren't a bad person, it's okay." he pat her back in small circles, an effort to calm her. She smelled of flowers, if not just slightly. He found himself no longer thinking to her, but instead just lost in the hug. It was pleasant, physical contact with someone.

Valorie pushed him away slightly and looked him in the eye, her face still covered in tears, but she was wearing a smile, contrary to the fear filled frown of moments before. _Th-thank you, David... _She looked around and saw the flames were getting closer to them. Spreading from building to building with unnatural speed. _We need to go, David! Hurry!_

They both ran farther, away to the edge of town. They could see a bridge, which David was sure led to Oreburgh, which was his next destination. "I'll have to call Sabrina about this later. For now, we need to go. I have a feeling neither of us are very welcome in Eterna anymore." The moon was blocked out by smoke from the rapidly spreading flames. Stars were unimaginable behind the thick cloud of smoke, the smell overwhelming to anyone too close.

The bridge was a large, white piece of architexture, completely made of concrete. Generally it was used as a short biking trail, but no one was there during the fiasco in town. The two ran, wind rushing past them, whistling in their ears. Looking back David saw the flames reach the forest that lines one side of the town. Eterna Forest. Where Sabrina was camping that night.

"Sabrina! Sabrina's in the forest! She'll burn! We have to help!" David was in a frenzy of fear, his hands on his head, close to tearing his hair out with stress. He started to pull Valorie back towards the rising flames, but found she refused to move. "Valorie, come on!"

_David, it's useless._ She said, a forlorn expression taking over her face. Her eyes were pointed down, not wanting to meet his face. Her mouth was quivering, and David saw a few drops fall out of her eyes. _It's too late, David. The fire's too big, we won't be able to find her in time, and even if we do, we wouldn't be able to get out... I'm sorry, but we can't do it._

David's face went from anger, to realization, to despair. She was right. There was no way he could get there to save his friend. But he could warn her. With this thought he lifted his XTransceiver to his mouth. "Call Sabrina." he spoke in monotone so the device could understand him easily.

"Calling Sabrina." it spoke back to him. Ring...ring...ring...ring...click.

She wouldn't pick up.

"Would you like to leave a message?" the device asked him. It was the only chance left.

"Sabrina, a fire started in Eterna. It's quickly spreading towards the forest, get away! Go back to Floroama! Get away from the city, hurry!" Click. The device ended the call. That was all he could do. He could only hope she got the message in time.

"Come on, Valorie, we need to get to Oreburgh." On the bridge there was no worry of flames, being made of concrete. The two fearful companions walked slowly down the bridge. Everything in front of them was illuminated by the flames behind. Trees out of range of the fire were blowing in the light wind of the night. Hordes of Zubat flew off, their peace disturbed by the bright light. Now that they were farther away, the fire, ironically, smelled very nice. Almost like a camp-fire. Behind them people started running onto the bridge with them in an effort to escape the furnace.

* * *

Sabrina ran. Flames quickly pursued her, their orange glow causing everything on the ground to have a stretched shadow, everything looking grim, as if knowing it was about to be burnt. Combine the flames with the mysterious noises that kept plaguing her. Earlier she thought whatever it was making those noises had attacked her, but it turned out to be another Caterpie. She was still followed by whatever it was, though. Most of the time small, melodic whispers, other times shrieks that filled the entire forest.

Fire licked at her heels as she ran, but the flames seemed to consume everything behind her as fast as she could get over them. Trees were burnt to char, little shrubs to ash... All those pokemon in the forest, the little ones that could not move fast enough to avoid the fire... Sabrina tried her best not to think about it, but it was impossible.

She had been hearing shreiks for a while now, and was unable to sleep because of it. She just closed her eyes and hoped it was nothing that could hurt her. She was almost asleep every time a new scream came, just about to fall unconcious, then a yell, almost ghost-like, would echo through the forest, reverberating off trees, then dissipating into the night.

This time she was almost sleep, but no scream came. Sabrina began to feel warm in the cold forest. During the day it had felt fine, but the early autumn night was freezing her. The warmth was welcome, but she was not sure where it was coming from. Not until the light hit as well. She dashed out of her tent to see what was causing the trouble. She just came out to find the most terrifying sight of her life. A huge wall of fire coming from Eterna City. It raced near her, and it was already too close for Sabrina to pack up her stuff. She simply grabbed her bag of supplies, and her pokeballs, then dashed away. She saw her XTransceiver lying on the ground, but it always took her a minute to put it on, so she did not want to risk taking that time. She just ran away from the flames.

"mmiiiiii" There was the whisper. The creature, whatever it was, was still with her, following her just out of sight. Sabrina found no use in looking for it again. Every time she did it changed nothing. She never found the source of the voice.

She just ran away from the flames, hoping she would be able to see tomorrow. She had come a long way, and it would take a long time to get back to the entrance. All she could hope for was that the flames would stay away long enough for her to get back.

Then she fell.

Her foot caught on a root on the ground, causing her to lose her balance. She tried to stand up, but found her ankle seathed in protest. She had broken her ankle! She had no way of getting out! She could not escape!

"Dreeeeaaaaavuuuuu."

And that voice... what was it?

* * *

A hand landed on David's shoulder. A black glove on a hand, connected to an arm covered with a blue shirt. David turned around and found himself facing a lady. she had blue hair on her head, and was wearing a blue shirt, and black pants. She was wearing a black hat with the Sinnoh Police symbol on it, and a badge was showing on her shirt. She glared at the boy with intense fury. "Are you David?" she asked simply, though in a calm voice. Still, she exuded immense power, and it was clear she expected respect from everyone, and would not hesitate to punish where it was neccessary.

"Yes..." David answered slowly. His hands felt cold all of a sudden, or more accurately his wrists. Looking down he found metal hand-cuffs attached to his arms, restraining his movement. He looked back up to the officer with fear in his eyes. He knew what was happening, and he knew there was no escape this time. He bowed his head in acceptance. "Valorie, just follow us..."

"Good boy. Now just follow me. Don't cause any trouble, or there'll twice as much for you, kid." She led them forward in the direction they were already heading, towards Oreburgh. "We're gonna get you two to the next town, since ours is, most apparently, unavailable at the moment." Those last few words were packed with as much malice as David had ever heard in his life. He shrunk back in fear, knowing whatever came next would be much to his chagrine.

The path to Oreburgh wasn't very interesting, just the bridge and a small path through the back-end of Eterna Forest, where the fire was nowhere near just yet, to reach the city. The two captives and the police lady were in the front heading to the town, the regular people following close behind. One lady ran up to see what they were doing there, or rather to see who had been caught for the crime.

"Jenny, who do you have- oh my..." Gardenia was about to ask her friend, Officer Jenny, who she had accused, but when she caught sight of David she just stopped talking. She knew exactly who he was, having battled him just earlier that day. "David... d-did you?"

He just nodded in response. He knew nothing he said would get him any lenience, so there was no use defending himself. It was over at that point. He was being arrested for arson, a crime he had no case against doing, and dozens of witnesses from the party.

"Jus-just... why? Why, David?" Gardenia had tears in her eyes. The gym leader had just seen the kid a few hours ago, for her city to be attacked... by a child she thought was so nice... Gardenia was surprised to say the least. Then the fact he seemed so innocent before... no kind of person can put up that good an act.

"I-it was an accident... We were at a party, and the people there were getting riled up, so we tried to leave... someone grabbed Valorie on our way out. She used psychic to push him off, but some metal he was wearing caught someone else's and the air caught fire... alcohol floating around the room..." David's eyes were tear filled, but nothing fell just yet. He felt horrible. He knew the fire was not really his fault, but if there was a way still to avoid the guilt of burning down a town, he couldn't find was not at all helped by the fact Valorie was feeling the same thing, and in her distressed state found it very hard o keep from spreading her emotion.

Jenny spoke up. "You said this Valorie person used psychic on someone? Would Valorie happen to be this Gardevoir?" Jenny pointed to David's companion, following very close beside him.

"Yes, she is." Valorie floated up closer to David, grabbing his arm and trying to floating at the same pace as his walking. She could feel what Jenny was thinking, and she knew it would be anything but good..

"Boy, do you know that pokemon using their moves on people is illegal? It could kill someone! They're too powerful! Any pokemon to attack a person must be put down by law." David's eyes became dinner plates. No. No! This could not be happening! One of his pokemon being put down for defending herself?! No!

Valorie just cried into David's shoulder. She knew what was coming out of Jenny's mouth before she said it. She wanted anything but for it to end this way. She spent her entire life in torture of Vlad, and now it seemed after one day of freedom from that curse she was going to die. She just wept uncontrollably into her friend's shoulder. She could not stop. Feelings of fear and despair and regret flashed through her mind. She was losing control of it. Her emotions went off wildy.

Everyone cried.

Jenny, David, Gardenia, everyone. Just cried. Valorie's emotions ran higher than they ever had before, a level she was unable to control at all. The usual short range radiation shot out a long way, anyone within fifty feet feeling exactly what was going through her mind, if not a dilluted version.

Jenny was choked up on tears caused by the emotion based pokemon, but managed to talk through them. "Emotional as well, I-I see. Sh-she's too dangerous. I can feel what's going through her mind. I... I can feel the regret. But the law is... the law. I can't control that."

David just went on sobbing, and wrapped an arm around Valorie, patting her back. "It'll be okay, Valorie." he lied. He knew he was lying. There was nothing he could do.

He got no response from his companion, instead just a steady stream of tears as they entered the forest, walking on in the clutches of the law. Awaiting trial. Imprisonment.

And death.

* * *

**This chapter was unexpected. I just started writing, and it... happened... I honestly wasn't planning it. Anyway, it's here, I really like it. Read and review. By the way, I'm considering re-writing chapters 1 and 3. Not much will change, but I just want to lengthen them out a bit more. Would you guys like me to do that?**


	7. 7-Guards

**This took longer to get out than I would have liked. I'm sorry about that, and that this is such a short chapter. I'm going to try to update more often, not a month (or was it more?) in-between chapters, but please don't go expecting daily updates ever again. I'm sorry it took so long, but first I came down with a fever, then as soon as that wore off I caught the flu. I don't write when I'm sick because I know it's going to be crappy what I come up with. After that it was mostly just limits on time due to school and laziness on my part. Again, I'm very sorry, but be aware that this story is very far from over, in fact you can consider what I've already done to be an overly long introduction (quite honestly I'm so paranoid of moving too quickly that it probably is...) anyhow, enjoy!**

* * *

The wind rustled through his long, light blonde hair. Eyes darting wildly from side to side, not even risking to look back lest he lose his speed. He could hear the dogs chasing him, barking powerfully, the sound reverberating through the trees of Eterna Forest. They were close, he could tell even without looking. If he turned around they probably would not be in sight, but that could change any second. The cold air nipped at his skin, even through his clothes, though considering how thin they were, and how many rips they had it was no surprise. Besides, over the years spent in a cell he had grown accustomed to cold air. Nothing but a thin blanket in the entire room, which was about as useful as the clothes he was wearing now.

* * *

The warden walked slowly throughout cell room, glancing into every room lined along the walls. She was a stout, tenacious woman, not very tall, but an impossible tower to conquer. Her bottom lip seemed to be oversized, taking away from her attractiveness, if there was any to begin with. Nevertheless, she did not fail to intimidate even the higher ups, the ones that were supposedly controlling _her_. Taking meager steps, she slowly made her way through the room, carrying a long stick with a little strap of leather at the end. It gave the appearance of being harmless, but everyone in the prison, even the guards, could testify that you did not want to get at the butt end of the weapon. Her brown hair was kept up in a tiny bun on the back of her head, but that could barely be seen under her uniform's hat, which was so large on her it looked as if it threatened to fall over her face at any moment. The uniform was completely made up of a dark green, rather rough fabric. It was found that it was flame-proof after one of the other prisoners tried to set her off with a lighter he managed to get his hands on. He regretted his actions dearly after that.

With nothing but a bored look on her face, the warden finally stopped her slow stroll, turning slightly she didn't even make eye contact with the former doctor. She grunted in disapproval, which was the most she'd ever acknowledged him with in a long time. The man adjusted his position on the floor, his blonde hair matted with dirt over his face. "Do you not love me anymore?" He asked, trying to sound as if he were a curious child. His voice was rough and gravelly, a result of not making a sound in weeks.

"I don't know what you're talking about. It is a rule not to talk to the guards." her voice was low, and unbefitting for a person of her stature, but it felt somehow proper for the strange mish-mash of aspects to be together. Closing her beady eyes she took a deep breath and finished her turn, now looking straight at the man. Her previously stern look had now changed into that of complete loathing, and emotional anger. The man found this look quite humorous, that such a person as her could feel emotion like that. He knew all too well she could, anyway. "You're here now, you're going to die here, you're going to rot here. I don't care who you are, I don't care what you feel. I'm the warden, you listen to me."

"You never change, Gretchen." He smiled as if enjoying a private joke, a joke that no one else found funny. He stood up slowly, wobbling a bit, threatening to lose his balance before walking haphazardly to the bars that separated him from the warden. "Why I always loved you." He quickly changed his demeanor, going from a guy who could barely walk to a stiff backed man of power. Grabbing the warden's shirt collar he pulled her face through the bars, quickly smashing his lips into hers, gaining himself one kiss, if that would be the thing to call it. It was mere seconds before he felt the warden leaving his grasp, being pulled back by the guards around them. Looking down briefly he only had a second before watching his hand be grabbed, and thrown back into a bar, pain shooting through his body as his wrist snapped.

"Bastard!" the warden looked furious. Her plump face began to change into a shade of red to challenge a pepper. Her fists clenched, and furiously shaking, she looked ready to erupt, a punishment waiting to happen. "Get him out of there!" The guards made quick work to unlock the door and walk into the cell. Not bothering to handle him carefully, they picked up the doctor and hustled him out of the cramped room, bringing him before the infuriated Gretchen.

"BASTARD!" Shade slapped his face with the stick she constantly had on her. The doctor didn't even wince. He smiled. The blonde hair, and the mud that plagued it were covering his eyes in a mad fashion, even his demeanor radiated joy at being hit by the injury inducing whip.

"Yes! Yes! Hit me again! Come on!" He laughed madly at the situation, at the guards, and even the warden. He was the only one who knew what was going on. Gretchen was just getting more angry by his reaction, turning an even darker shade of red and slapped him across the face with the whip. He looked back and laughed hysterically.

"Argh!" She repeatedly smacked him, each time getting the same reaction, laughing and smiling. His cheeks were bleeding, and it seemed as if one of his eyes were cut, but he kept on going, laughing and begging for more. Finally she could not take any more. With one last smack she slowed down and put her hands on her knees, breathing heavily.

"Awe, are we done now? No more fun?" He laughed and bent down next to her, reaching eye level. "You really don't love me anymore?" He raised a hand to his head and wiped off a bit of the blood streaming out of the cuts. "Pitiful." He stood up slowly and walked back to his cell, stopping just before the door. "Thank you for letting me out, by the way. It's been a long time since I left that cell."

The guards fell to the ground, greatly injured from the fight from moments earlier. Neither could make a noise, nor was it likely they would live until the next day. The warden was on the ground, whimpering. For the first time in decades she felt something new. Fear. "Well, well, Gretchen." the man said fingering the knife in his hand. "Just you and me now, you now?" He adjusted his grip on the sharp blade and threw it spiralling at her head, piercing her skull, and slicing the brain inside. "Oh… just me…" He smiled. That was the most fun he'd had in ages.

"Now, now, how do I get out of here?" Looking at the ground around him, the dead warden, and the two guards. "Probably should leave before someone snoops around." Shrugging he stepped on one of the guards to leave, not bothering to avoid it. There was no point.

The mightyena leaped in front of the man, not even stumbling as it landed, teeth bared in an aggressive threat. After escaping it was not long before the other guards discovered the bodies of the warden and the other guards. Every guard in the prison carried a pokemon of some sort, generally something that could see in the dark for night time cases. Hence, Mightyena and other dark types were very common for the job.

The Mightyena's red eyes glared the man down, filled the intent of punishment. The dark haired hound pounced back into the air aiming at the man's face, slashing with its sharp clawed paw, very nearly missing his eye, which was already torn up by warden Gretchen's whip. It barked as it fell back to the ground, the sound reverberating through the trees. Rolling on the ground a few times before jumping to its feet, the young doctor saw the opportune moment to gain space between himself and the assailant pokemon. He only managed to make it five feet before the pokemon was upon him again, this time tackling him from the back. His face slammed into the ground full force, and he felt a sharp pain as his nose broke, blood gushing from his nostrils.

"That wasn't very nice, ya' know. Did they ever send you to obedience school?" The Mightyena barked in answer, probably an insult in pokespeech. Still with the upper hand, the dark type clawed the man's back, screams of pain being it's reward. Now using its teeth, it bit his shoulder, a river of blood flowing softly out of it. "You know, you're becoming a real pest."The man, now laughing in his pain, slowly rose to his feet, the hyena pokemon still latched to his back, but now slowly sliding off, taking shreds of his back, and mass amounts of blood with it. "Now be a good dog and go back to your owners, I'm sure they miss you." He turned around and started walking calmly away.

Not missing a second, the pokemon bounded back to his prey and jumped one last time, no aiming for his neck. With a jolt the man looked behind him, uttered an exasperated sigh, and held out his arm. Too late the pokemon saw what he was doing, but it couldn't stop its momentum, instead crashing neck first into the man's tight fist. Knocking the air out of it, the pokemon fell to the ground and started hacking uncontrollably, trying to regain the ability to breath. "Choose your fights wisely next time." and with that the man looked to his sides and ran off into the woods surrounding the prison.

As he suspected, it was not long before more dogs had been released after him. Flashing a quick smile across his face he started to dash faster, actually enjoying the feeling. Adrenaline running through his veins! The Excitement! The blood loss! All so wonderful!

* * *

"Court is now in session. The case of David Melbar against the residents of Eterna City." The gavel made a knocking sound as it softly hit the podium the judge was watching the court from. "David Melbar has been charged with the arson of Eterna City. The jury will decide the outcome. Guilty until proven innocent. The defendant may now state his case."

* * *

**Sorry again for the inexcusable break, and sorry for the overly short chapter. Coming in at just under 2,000 words, this chapter is pitifully short. I hope I'll never upload something the pitiful again. Be in watch for the next chapter with the trial of David Vs. Eterna City! Read and Review, and thank you for being patient with me.**


	8. 8-Trials

**Has it been a month? I don't think so. More than a week anyhow. Sorry about the wait, again. A couple of things came up. First off, the day I started writing this chapter my grandfather died, so I decided to named a character after him, though not based on his personality by any means. Say hi to Carl, everyone. Then I got sucked into a fate that might be worse than Hell itself: I started watching anime *queue scary music* and World or Warcraft playing *scarier music* and, worst of all, SCHOOL *QUEUE CREEPIEST MUSIC YOU CAN THINK OF* Haha, anyway, enjoy the chapter.**

**I am very sorry! I have just been informed that I accidentally re-posted chapter six as chapter eight! I posted it at three in the morning, though, so give me some credit. I'm sorry, it's fixed now.**

* * *

Department No. 203 Hon. Carl C. Grads, Judge

Appearances: District Attorney Jack T. Grudge:

Also present on behalf of David Melbar,

Attorney Whitney K. Avid

(Oliver Hasney Official Reporter)

The Court: The Eterna Matter. Mr. David Melbar has been charged with the complete arson of Eterna City. Charged guilty until proven innocent. The defendant may now state his case.

Mrs. Avid: Thank you, your Honor. My client has been charged with the total arson of Eterna City, the hastily growing city of the grass type gym.

The Court: As has been stated.

Mrs. Avid: Yes your honor. I trust you have read the proper papers, and the district attorney's rebuttal?

The Court: Of course.

Mrs. Avid: Thank you. Shall I begin, then?

The Court: I do believe the trial is already in session. Please state your facts, we only have so much time, you know.

Mrs. Avid: Oh, right, yes. Your Honor, my client was last seen before the fire retreating from the building it originated from, the structure catching flame shortly after.

The Court: This was already stated in the papers…

Mrs. Avid: Yes, your Honor. But you'll notice this is the only proof against my client, Mr. Melbar here. What set the fire? How could he have possibly started something that catastrophic without anyone witnessing just how he did it? Certainly those who saw how the catastrophe started were all burned to death…

The Court: Yes. All witnesses of that respect have been, regrettably, incinerated.

Mrs. Avid: Then you see, there is no proof against my client. Does anyone have a reason against him?

The Court: You forget how this court works. According to Eterna law, all are considered guilty until innocent, not the other way around.

Mrs. Avid: Of course, your Honor. I'm getting to that. You'll agree that if there is no evidence against, and none for, then he can't possibly be guilty.

The Court: While I agree, the international law of Indigo says otherwise. I'm sorry, but I cannot go with what you're saying. Please bring real proof or go sit down.

Mrs. Avid: Er, yes, of course…

(Avid speaks to client, David Melbar, Untranscribed)

The court reporter looked up from his typing. It was his job to record the entireties of trials, but private conversations such as what was now taking place between Mrs. Avid and David were out of the presence of the jury, and therefore didn't even need to be written down. Though the trial was just beginning, Oliver was finding his new job to be a small bit of a pain. He wasn't used to writing so much at one time, and his hands were already starting to cramp. '_That'll clear up in time...'_ he thought.

"David, you gave me the story, but what am I supposed to go on to prove you're not guilty? You've given me nothing but the plain. I need details!" Whitney Avid cried in a hoarse whisper, trying not to be heard by anyone but David.

"Well I'm sorry, they rushed me to you as soon as we got into Oreburgh, then pushed me in here! I didn't have the time to give details or I wouldn't get the whole story out!" David was getting aggravated with Mrs. Avid, the seemingly witless attorney he'd been given. It had been less than two hours since they entered the town, two hours of chaotic moving about and getting things quickly arranged for the quickest possible prosecution. They had taken Valorie from his side immediately after they arrived. At first she thrashed wildly, not wanting to be separated from David just yet. Even though they had only known each other a short time, her species attributes made her very attached to anyone who was even slightly nice to her. David was quick to get her to calm down, knowing that if she continued to resist the punishment would be harsher than it was already. If anything could be worse than death. The teen still clung to the hope that he could somehow talk them out of taking her life.

"Then tell me now, Melbar!" Avid was getting desperate. She loved her job, and was very enthusiastic about working. But she was loathe to lose her first case.

Why did they give David the newest attorney possible?

"Okay, okay! Let me think… Me and my Gardevoir were being harassed by some lady in the restaurant. We were trying to leave, but after being called out for abusing the girl, whom I never touched by the way, it started a small riot in the building. Trying to get out before we were hurt, while we were leaving something caught fire. It was too fast for me to see, but I swear I didn't start it. The place just went up in flames!" David was talking quickly, knowing they only had a small amount of time before the judge would get tired of waiting and call them back.

"That's nothing! I still have nothing to prove you're innocent with, Melbar!"

"Mrs. Avid, are you ready or not?" Judge Grads was getting annoyed with the waiting.

"Umm… Let the district say their spiel. I need a minute."

Grads rolled his eyes. "Prosecution, state your case."

The district attorney had a smug expression, as if he had already won the trial. "I don't believe I need to speak. If there's no case to save him, why bother?"

"State your case, Grudge."

"Fine, fine. You know, David here was witnessed leaving the building almost immediately as it caught fire. Though he wasn't calm, why would he be? He seemed to be in a hurry to escape his own trap. And why would he try to burn down such a building anyway? That will be revealed. A question posed, and the only I may say, by Mrs. Avid over there was how would he even start the fire? Well, after sifting through the ashes mere minutes ago, I received a call that informed me there seemed to BE no caused at all! So what could have started a fire so instantaneously? After a check of all the dead and scorched bodies, all human, we could only come to one explanation. The only being that could have started an inferno so quickly would be… a pokemon.

"As I said, after searching the bodies of the unfortunate we found no remains of pokemon. David was the only person in the building in possession of such a creature. I propose the proof of fire is the fact that the only person capable of starting a fire that size is David's Gardevoir!"

The judge looked unamused at the explanation. He shifted in his sheet, as if he had an itch that he didn't want to scratch in public. "This was all in the papers, Grudge, you are being only slightly more helpful than miss Avid."

Grudge cringed at the simile, obviously not wanting to be even slightly grouped with the new Mrs. Avid. "But still, your Honor, my side is much more convincing."

Grads looked to the ceiling for a moment before drifting his gaze back to the trial. He seemed to be losing interest rather rapidly. "Mrs. Avid, please state your rebuttal."

"Thank you, your Honor. May I call my first witness to the stand. The only person capable of contact with David at the time. Maylene, leader of the Veilstone gym!"

A short girl with pink hair walked into the room, almost crouching, not liking the attention this was bringing her. As the child gym leader made her way to the stands David could see Grudge rolling his eyes.

"Your honor, should we be letting a child give witness? Who knows what fantasies she may have created in her mind."

Grads glared at the attorney, putting all the annoyance he could muster into his eyes. "Mr. Grudge, she is a highly respected gym leader in Sinnoh. I doubt anyone here regards her as a child at this point in time.

Maylene simply nodded her head and tried to shrink back into the seat. Though she was a gym leader, and used to attention, it was not her regular routine to appear in court. The prospect rather intimidated her, actually. "Thank you." was all she said in reply to the short debate on her being there.

Avid approached Maylene, holding a Book of Arceus in her hand. Once she got close enough Avid let the girl lay her hand on the book. "Do you swear to tell the truth, only the truth, and nothing but the truth?"

"I swear."

"Thank you. Let's get started then. Maylene, when was the last time you came in contact with David before the arson?"

Maylene thought for a moment before replying, finally answering "We were having a pokemon battle the night before. We had a deal over who would pay for dinner. Before then we had met a number of times, mostly just crossing paths in our travels. He never seemed like the kind of person that would burn down a town. Seemed so nice, I couldn't imagine."

"Very nice. Now Maylene, has David perhaps switched out his pokemon team that you've known of?"

"Well no. As far as I've seen on his belt he's had the same pokemon for a couple days, which is all he's been on his journey for. A Lucario, Zoroark, and Gardevoir. I see what you're getting at, by the way, and no, I have never seen clue of a fire type anywhere near him."

"Then how do you suppose he set fire to an entire city?"

"I don't. As I said before, I can't imagine him doing anything like that, nor have I seen him with the means to."

"Thank you, Maylene, your input was greatly appreciated." Avid said, dismissing Maylene before returned to her seat next to David.

Maylene stood and turned to leave her seat, seeming to gain her composure as a level headed gym leader again. Grad spoke up to address the court again. "Grudge, your turn."

"Thank you, your honor. I call to the stands the Veilstone City gym leader, Maylene!"

The girl turned around with despair in her eyes. Just when she thought she had escaped. Turning back to where she was sitting previously she began to walk slowly towards it.

"Maylene, you say you never saw him with a fire type pokemon?"

"That is correct." Maylee nodded.

"Do you suppose that it's possible to start a fire on such a scale without one?"

"Well, I can't imagine how. It would take either a fire type pokemon, or a humungous fuel source for a spontaneous combustion like that."

"You said he was in possession of a psychic type, a Gardevoir, if I remember correctly."

"Yes."

"Do you suppose that perhaps all it would take is air pressure becoming too much, resulting in heating air?"

"I don't know. Physics was never a strong suit for me. Once you become a gym leader the tutors don't seem to care about your education much anymore…"

"I assure you it's possible. So we know he had the means, correct?"

"I suppose…" Maylene shifted uneasily in her chair. It was obvious to her, and everyone else, that Grudge was about to trap her with words.

"So if he had the means, all he needs is a reason. Maylene, you are dismissed."

The girl perked up and nodded, and developed a smile on her face as she stood. Walking at an unneededly fast pace out of the room, mostly to avoid being called back again, Grudge started speaking again.

"I now call Lortia Zacher to the stand." A woman walked into the room, burnt all over her body, and half a head of hair completely gone. Unbefitting to wear in court, she was dressed in a black one piece that ended at her thighs, and a collar that stretched down more than was appropriate. The entire outfit was black. Putting her hand to the Book of Arceus she swore to tell the truth and sat down at the seat.

"Lortia was a victim of the fire, barely escaping with her life. Thankfully she is well enough to appear in court today. Lortia, where were you when the fire started?"

"I was in the building. Just a regular person having a good time until he showed up." Lortia pointed at David accusingly. "I never liked the looks of the guy. Walked in with his Gardevoir all high and mighty looking. She seemed slutty too, but that's not what the case is about, huh?"

"What are you suggesting, Lortia?"

"Oh nothing." She said playfully. "What were you saying?"

"Why do you think This kid would set fire to an entire city?"

"Well, he obviously thought the place was above himself, refusing to pay anyone else mind at all. I think he'd want to just burn it to satisfy his own bloodlust."

"Bloodlust?"

"Oh yeah! He approached me and started threatening with a knife if I didn't do what he said. I tried to get away, I really did, but he kept insisting. Gestured up the stairs to one of the private rooms. He thought I was a prostitute! The nerve of some people, I know."

"Oh really? But what does that have to do with the case?" Grudge asked, smiling as the lies came flooding out of Lortia's mouth.

"Oh everything! I managed to get away from him finally before he did anything horrible, but he didn't take it well. I'd bet my uncle that he was angry enough to burn the town."

Avid stood with a flare in her eyes "I object!"

Carl looked at Avid with interest. "Go on?"

"How could David have done something like that when the proof of the opposite is right in front of you? Look at what this Lortia has chosen to wear today? What kind of person wears an outfit like that anyway?"

"While this is true, we have no way of verifying if you're right. Lortia, continue."

"Thank you, your honor." Lortia blew him a kiss with her overly large make-up flooded lips. "Well, what happened was as I ran through the crowd trying to get away from him

he went and started a fight. Finally he was at the entrance and the flame started out of nowhere. One moment everything was fine, and the next I see a little flame, and then everything burst. That's not natural, you know. I think only a pokemon would be able to pull it off."

Grudge smiled with a wolf-like grin on his face. He was enjoying everything going his way. "Thank you, Lortia, your information has proved very helpful."

Blowing a kiss, Lortia stood and left the building, swinging her hips back and forth as she walked. David saw more than one man staring at her back side as she walked past them.

After she finally left the court completely Grudge spoke again. "I call one more witness. David's Gardevoir!"

David's eyes shot to the attorney, who smiled at him menacingly. He opened his mouth to speak, but promptly closed it knowing anything he said would be used against him.

Carl looked surprised to a level no one thought possible, eyes as wide as dinner plates. "You can't possibly be serious, Grudge! What could a pokemon do to help in court?"

Still smiling, Grudge answered with a simple "You'll see. Bring her in!" The door in the back of the room opened, allowing David to see two officers, one being Jenny, and the other a man with equally blue hair. Between them, chained at her hands, was Valorie. She looked as miserable as when David had last seen her, clinging to his arm for fear.

Grudge walked back into the walkway to meet David's companion as she was coming up. "Thank you Jenny, John. I'll handle this from here." The two police released Valorie's shackles and walked to the back of the room, hands on their tasers for the first sign of trouble. "Now Gardevoir, I'm sure you're very scared, no?"

Valorie shook her head up and down, tears in her eyes.

"Do you want to see David again? Is that your fear? That you won't see him?"

Valorie paused for a moment before shaking her head up and down slowly.

Grudge's smile widened with glee. "He's right over there, you see? You can go see him if you want." Valorie looked at Grudge, then at David, then back at Grudge. "Go on."

Valorie lost no time in making a beeline for David, her tears filling her eyes even more. Her white dress flowed behind her, whipping at her quick pace. Reaching David she quickly hugged him and wouldn't let go, her crying now audible at David's close range. _David I was so scared! They said they were going to kill me, David! I don't want to die! Please, please, help me! _Valorie's grip tightened and her tears came pouring even more forcefully as the moments passed. All David could do was pat her back '_Don't worry, it'll be okay.'_

Grudge laughed heartily. "Hah! Your honor, there's your proof! Lortia was telling the truth!"

"What do you mean, Grudge?" Gran asked.

"Lortia made the claim of a "slutty" Gardevoir! There is no such thing in the wild! The only way a Gardevoir could behave like that is to be taught! And who but David would teach such a poor, misled creature? Yet another victim to the many crimes of a delinquent!"

"Very well. Jury, the meeting is finished. We will allow a five minute recess for you to decide."

The all spoke in unison "Thank you your honor."

* * *

Avid was sitting back in her seat shaking her head. She knew just as well as Grudge that she had lost the case. There was no way she could provide evidence that David was innocent. The proof of Lortia's claims were right in front of her. Grudge kept sending her smug glances, his lips curled up in a snooty fashion. Avid could not even bare to face him anymore, and she settled to staring at the floor.

* * *

Sabrina was on her last legs. Darumaka and Eevee were too weak to fight. The flames had come over the night, licking away at the plants and burning everything. Out of the flames many pokemon fleeing became confused and attacked Sabrina, causing her to make her pokemon fight until they dropped. It wasn't until morning that the flames subsided, leaving a small wood of yellow leaves and unhealthy trees, and a large expanse of blackened forest, burned to the ground.

Sprawled on the ground, burned all over her body, miserable to the breaking point.

And all she could hear were shrieks.

Screaming from all directions, barely human, loud as possible in her ears. They came from all directions, far away and close, as if the ghosts of the fire's victims were haunting her. She couldn't ever shake the feeling that she was being watched.

It was hard to breathe. After inhaling so much smoke it was a wonder that she was still alive.

And there it was again.

'_Miiiiiiiiissssssssssssssssssss'_

* * *

"We have reached a verdict." The jury said, letting the whole court house hear.

David still had Valorie attached to his arm, crying her eyes out. It was a wonder that she still had any liquid left in her. Judge Gran perked up. He had been twiddling his thumbs on the stands for the last five minutes. "Oh good!"

"We declare the defendant… Guilty!"

David's hands went to his face. There was no hope now. No way out. No way to escape. Valorie would surely die, his other pokemon released, and he put in prison for the rest of his life. There was only one thing to do. He could not help himself anymore. If he ran the law would surely catch up to him. All he could do was help Valorie.

He tightened his grip on the pokemon and brought his mouth close to her ear. Whispering lightly "Listen, Val, I need you to do this for me. There's no hope now, but I need you to be safe, okay?"

_What are you saying?_

"Valorie, focus back in Eterna. Teleport there and run off. Forget about me, forget about Vlad, forget about everything. There isn't a chance I can get out now, but you must, okay?"

_N-no, I can't just leave! _

"But you must, Val! Do it for me, at least!"

_But I'd-_

She didn't get to finish her sentence. At that moment everything changed. The course of David's fate was shifted, though for the better or worse was not yet seen.

All hell broke loose.

* * *

It had been a long time since he had pulled off a large scale crime. the young doctor figured a befitting thing to do after breaking out of prison, was to prevent someone else from going to prison. So he stormed the courthouse, as the obvious thing to do.

It didn't take long to assemble some guys for the job, as there were plenty of people in Oreburgh alone that were weak enough for him to threaten. Storming the building was simple work, since all the cops were inside. He didn't know why, but he heard it had something to do with a pokemon being in there. They didn't want it to be able to get away with anything. He couldn't care less. All he wanted was to cause mayhem, and lots of it. That's all Zach ever wanted.

"Hey Gran!" As he kicked open the door he screamed at the Judge. "I remember when you condemned me for a life sentence!"

"You?! How the hell did you get out?!" Gran stood and his voice changed from lazy to furious in an instant.

"Simple matter of killing everyone in the vicinity. You might need new guards by the way. The ones you had sucked." and with that Zach proceeded to shoot his gun in every direction, not caring who he hit. All he thought was the more people died, the better. Simple.

Dashing to the front of the room has stopped firing for a moment. "Mkay, simple matter. First, I'm gonna kill this judge. Then, I'm gonna steal this boy. Got it?"

Gran stood again, raising his voice. "Now you see here-" He was cut short by a shot to the throat, blood squirting out of the hole.

"Part one completed. Now for phase two of the plan. Oh Boys!" The people he had recruited flooded into the room like a river. They fired their guns wildly, hitting everyone in sight. Zach looked down at David and his Gardevoir, gesturing with his hand to stand up. "Well come on, Boy, we don't got all day." He thought for a moment. "Wait, is that pokemon the reason all those cops were in here instead of outside? Ha! Feel free to bring it too!"

* * *

**This chapter was a PAIN. I wanted it to be as real as possible, but I have no idea how a court works other than the opposite of what I did. Anyhow, read and review, hope you enjoyed it!**


	9. 9-Discussion

**This chapter makes me happy. Right on the word count quota. Interesting too. In other, more important news, chapter one has been revised to be better quality, and slightly longer. I advise reading it again, because a few (not many) facts have been changed, and I may (probably not) reference them in the future.**

* * *

"Problem: I did something good while doing something bad. Explain this to me again?" Zach said. The room around flickered in from the light of a lone candle, shadows dancing. The cellar they were hiding in belonged to the late John Turbank, former resident of Floaroma town. The walls were lined with shelves holding various wines. The smell was predictable, of course, wine wafting through the air. After raiding the courthouse, Zach had wasted no time in doing exactly what he said he would: stealing David and his Gardevoir. David in the confusion barely hesitated from leaving with the gunman, but after the shock had left him the situation drilled itself in his brain, prompting him to struggle. Finally Zach broke and had a few lackeys knock the two out and carry them along.

David awoke in complete darkness, but after Zach heard and anomaly in his breathing he lit a match and the questioning session started. "I told you. I was about to be imprisoned for an accident, and Valorie put to death. If it weren't for you she'd be dead by now."

"Dammit! I meant to cause havoc, not save lives… oh well, now you're here. I assume Valorie's the Gardevoir here?" Zach started stroking his clean shaven chin. He actually looked more than a little ridiculous, but David didn't dare say anything.

"Yeah." David nodded.

"How long have you had her?"

"Couple days, I guess… So much has happened, though, it doesn't feel that long." David thought back and realized that a lot had happened over the last few days. He had just started his journey less than a week ago, and yet he already rescued multiple pokemon from an abusive trainer, and burned down a city. He wondered what his dad would think of all this…

"Question: How the hell is that a Gardevoir? It's nearly impossible to find a wild one, and it takes longer than 'a couple-o-days' to fully evolve one. Where'd you get her?"

"Um… well, you wouldn't believe me, I bet. Some guy, I think Vlad was his name, pretty much disowned her and I was the only one around." Zach perked up, becoming more attentive than he was mere seconds ago. He had been lazily asking questions, but now his posture seemed different.

"Describe this 'Vlad' character."

"Um… Black hair slicked back. Wore a nice suit, really pale skin. About the best I can really do there…" David answered, trying to recall specific features. In all honesty the event had happened so quickly he never got a good look at him.

Zach's eyes grew wide, and a smile growing on his face let David know he had just triggered something. "Alabaster, you don't suppose…"

A man David hadn't noticed behind him stepped forward. His clothes seemed to be too small, and they were more than a little ripped in places. His pants seemed to just be jeans that had been cut to his knees, now fraying, and his shirt in no better state. His skin was rough, toned dark with hair and firmly shaped muscles. David thought it was funny that he seemed to follow orders from Zach. He could so obviously overpower the small man in seconds, why did he follow so attentively?

He spoke in a low gravelly voice. "Well, maybe. But what are the chances? You haven't-"

Zach interrupted him abruptly "I know I haven't, but if it's him… Hmph. We get there when we get there, right?"

"Right."

"Get back to your post, now. Don't want any unwelcome visitors without warning." Alabaster walked the five feet back to the door he was keeping watch on, presumably to watch for any neighbors that might've heard John scream. "So Vlad… Hmhm. Did he have any pokemon with him other than this Gardevoir here?"

"Um, a Froslass, but she's dead. I didn't get to see any others." David answered, now very confused from the only half explained conversation that had just transpired before him.

"He let his Froslass die? That heartless son of a bitch…" Zach smiled and shook his head. "Favorite pokemon that was. Though he never was one to handle weakness very well. I guess it screwed up one too many times. Just from knowing what I'm talking about, I guess you're on his death list. Well, boy, I can't say much more than hide and pray to Arceus he doesn't find ya. Ain't no one on earth with a temper like his.

"So you know him?"

"Of course. We used to be… colleagues. In the medical business. It was a good cover for a nice little mafia group. Sell illegal drugs, while also having access to all those legal ones out there, eh? Speaking of which! Alabaster, next time we see Lenny we ought to rough him up a bit. Hasn't been making my deliveries on the times he specified. I've been out of prison for three days now, and my bag of 'stuff' shoulda come in yesterday."

"Yessir."

Zach turned his attention back to David. "Well, back to what I was saying, up until we both went a little mad we were good friends, you know? Then he became a shitty ass pokemon trainer and left me to do the dealin' myself. Well, you know, it's hard to keep up something like that, and I figured he'd left for a reason. He has a reason for everything he does. He finds doing things for the heck of it a waste of time. So I became one myself. Simple matter. Became an assassin for hire a couple years back, until I slipped up one too many times and got myself caught." he seemed to stare off into the distance for a moment, but quickly snapped back into reality.

"Anyway, enough of my past, there's no need for you to hear about it. From what I know about Vlad you shouldn't be alive long enough to care before he finds you and kills ya." He stood up and walked to the door of the cellar, standing beside Alabaster.

David was a little confused. Zach? An assassin for hire? While David found it easy to believe he killed people, because he watched the man do it, he couldn't imagine him being an assassin. He wasn't powerful enough, nor it seemed stealthy enough. He was obviously skilled at killing, but without the element of surprise like he had at the auction house, how good could he possibly be? Was he hiding some power that made him harder to kill? More little lackeys following at his heels?

_David? _Valorie spoke in the boy's mind. It actually startled David for a moment, since she had been so quiet for the last little bit. He looked over to her and saw her red eyes trained on him. Her green hair was rustled, unsurprisingly from recent events, but to David it seemed a little abnormal. From what he'd seen, the Gardevoir was almost flawless all the time. Now she seemed a little different, with her messed up hair, but David couldn't quite place it. _What about the others?_

David took a second to realize what she was talking about. Where were his other pokemon? The police had confiscated them, so they weren't on him. Shit. They were back in Oreburgh! '_Oh no… Valorie, I don't know! The cops took them from me! I think they're back in the police department!'_

Her eyes sunk low towards the ground. _That's what I was afraid of… _she kept her gaze on the ground and stared for a moment, shifting uncomfortably where she was sitting.

David put his arm on her shoulder and squeezed it. '_It's okay… I-I'll get them back. I promise.'_

_Yeah…_

David sat there a moment, contemplating just how he was going to go about this task he assigned himself. It seemed impossible, and definitely not a good idea to go waltzing right back into the town that tried to have him life-sentenced.

"Okay, coast is clear." Zach said, returned from the door. "My men are out there killing anyone who gets too close to the house, and thankfully, no one's gotten close enough for us to blow our cover that way. Come on, we're leaving."

"Then I guess I'll be going. Valorie-"

"Going? Where would you be going to?"

"Well, I was thinking back to Oreburgh to retrieve a few of my pokemon I accidentally left there." David answered, slightly worried about the former doctor's tone.

"You mean these?" Zach held up a small back that looked to be filled with spheres. He reached in and pulled out a pokeball, pressed the button, and released the inhabitant inside. David was close to faint when Shade was standing right in front of him.

"Hey David. May I ask you a question?" Shade said, waving his purple hand in an overly peppy manner.

"Shade! How.. What… huh?"

"I'll take that as yes. Now. Where the HELL are we, and why was I stuck in that thing for so long?! And where the hell is the nearest facility that sells bacon?!"

Zach laughed at Shade's dissatisfaction, a strong hearty chuckle. "Got some cheek there, son, I'll give you that. Nice little illusion trick as well. Come on, we got bacon in the storehouse, or at least, we should if my men have been keeping it stocked while I was detained."

Shade's ears perked at Zach excitedly. "Really? Awesome! David, why are you never this good?"

"Oh shut up…"

"Wait… That doesn't answer my question. Where are we?" Shade scratched an itch on his head while asking.

"Floaroma, just about to leave this dead man's cellar."

"Sounds intriguing."

"Very."

David spoke up again, gaining his bearings after the surprise of seeing Shade so soon. "Wait, why should we go with you? We watched you kill a guy for goodness sake!"

"Why should you come with me? Boy, you got a mighty fine imagination if you think I'd have it any other way. Here are your pokemon, you might need 'em later."

"What are you talking about?" David asked. Taking back his pokeballs, he recognized a threatening tone in Zach's voice, a voice that before couldn't be traced of any malice or danger, but only through his actions could you really find anything wrong with him. Now he sounded like he would kill the next person to speak.

"David, son, you see these men? You think I have the power to get this many people on illegal jobs with me? Hell no. This is special. This is the benefits of my career. All these people owe me things. Bribes not to kill 'em, mostly. Sometimes they owe me gambling money. Anyway, this is their payback. They work for me for a certain amount of time, then I let 'em go. And you, boy, you're really somethin'. You said it yourself, if it weren't for me, you'd be dead. Now you owe ME big time, and you're gonna pay."

"Wait, you mean?"

"Precisely. Alabaster, come take these boys with you. Make sure they don't try anything funny, by the way. If they do, don't hesitate to slit their throats. That goes for Gardy there too. "

Alabaster nodded. "Yessir."

David was taken aback. First he was going to be imprisoned for life, and now he was a slave for a murderer? His life seemed to just be getting worse! Of course, that was just his lot. Valorie's seemed to have gotten better. Escaped from Vlad, who did unspeakable, and unknown things to her. Then she was going to be put to death, which was honestly slightly better than staying with Vlad. Now she was with David as a slave. Better than dying. Her lot was bad, but it was steadily getting better.

Oh the irony.

"Come on, then, we don't have much time. Eventually someone's gonna come check on Johnny here. We need to get going. Base is in Jublife, so we'll be heading there. You okay with that? Nevermind. I don't care. Boss'll kill me if I do."

"Understandable." David decided it was best to go along with the plan for now. Zach didn't seem like the kind of guy to take matters of workers lightly, and figured he might have some level of protection from Vlad. The way Zach spoke of him made it seem like they used to be friends, but the memory left a bad taste in his mouth. Perhaps something had happened?

"Then let's get going." Alabaster said. He took a few steps out of the cellar and looked around. "Clear. Come on out." David and his two pokemon stepped outside, the stars of the night shining down in dim rays, barely illuminating the quiet world. Almost peaceful, if not for the haunting thoughts of what was to come.

_David?_

'_Yeah?'_

_How do you feel about this? I know I'm away from Vlad, and I'm happy, but what now? This seems to be just as bad._

'_Well, that did come to mind, you know? I think this is better than Vlad for you, if not slightly.'_

Valorie laughed a little in her tinkly voice. _Yeah, I guess now I have you to protect me. That's a plus. You put up a good fight against Vlad last time, perhaps if he shows up again you can beat him into never coming back. _She continued to laugh lightly, and then suddenly hugged David. _I don't think I've thanked you enough, by the way._

David was surprised for a moment before patting her back. If she was the embrace pokemon, he imagined he'd have to get used to that. '_Don't worry, you have. I'm glad you feel safer._

"Zach! Boss! We have a young one!" A man David didn't recognize was running up to Zach and Alabaster. He looked slightly panicked, fear completely consumed his eyes.

Zach looked at him, taking a look of annoyance to his face. "Someone break the border?"

"Um, yes, but…"

"If they broke the border, kill them. It's a simple job, now do it!"

"But sir, this one's different…"

"What do you mean? Can you not see we're ready to go? We can't risk witnesses!"

"Well… Sir, she's already half dead."

"She? Half dead? Ugh! Bring her along, then! Perhaps I just gained three more slaves in a day." Zach shrugged off the turn of events and kept walking on.

David had his own problems to think about. Some half dead person appearing was the least of his worries.

Zach's base was a small wooden shack on the outskirts of town. The wood was half rotted off the outside walls, and the only window was a hole in the side lacking any glass. David was unimpressed. The sky was beginning to turn blue by the time they arrived, and the boy was tired enough to sleep the entire day.

"Welcome to home, boys! I know it doesn't look like much, but give me some credit, I'll impress you in a minute." Zach stepped forward and opened the door. The inside was only slightly more impressive than the exterior. A faded green rug covered most of the floor, dust flying from it when stepped on. David would be surprised if there was any electricity in the building, and his suspicions seemed to be confirmed the the lack of any technology. A small wooden table was pushed into the corner, turning more black than brown, and barely able to stand on its spindly legs. A small fireplace sat within the far wall, but it wasn't lit, and instead was coating in a layer of dust an inch thick.

"This isn't very impressive." One of his lackey's remarked upon seeing the inside. "In fact, this is… pretty disappointing." He looked around the room, taking in every detail.

_BANG_

"Mkay, who wants next turn?" Zach asked, the unfortunate man's body slumping to the floor. A shot to the head was difficult to heal from. "No one? Good. Now if you'd give me a moment…" Zach walked to the back of the room, approaching the fireplace. The rug he stepped on getting there seemed to no longer exist, due to the amount of dust flying from it's surface. The former doctor bent down and rubbed his finger against the rough carpet.

"Ah, sweet disguises…" He stood again and took a few steps to stand beside the dirtied rug, then bent down again, lifting it. Dust flew everywhere, and everyone in the room coughed. David looked at Shade to see his normally dark purple Zoroark was now a dull gray.

_Maybe this is worse than Vlad. I don't think my lungs can handle much more of this._ Valorie whispered in his mind. Barely withholding a laugh, David continued to watch Zach.

"There we go! Come on down, boys." Zach turned and revealed what he'd been working on. Under the rug was a square of wooden panel that seemed different from the rest, a small crack showing its outline. The criminal bent down and worked his fingers into the groove, lifting the hardwood plank.

David walked forward and looked at what lay below the covering. What he found was a deep hole, just large enough for a person to fit through. A ladder leading down was bolted to the wall of the hole, though its rungs were rusted completely, and it couldn't be safe to climb down.

"Well? What're ya waiting on? Go on down. We gotta set up, you know. This place has been out of commision for three-odd years, ever since I've been detained. We'll need to tidy up a bit!" Zach laughed, gesturing David down the hole. The boy gulped, knowing he was in no position to argue with an order.

"I'm not doing it." Shade said, walking back towards the door. He ran his paws up and down himself trying to get the fur out, and failing miserably. There was simply too much to get out at the moment.

"Oh no you don't!" David pushed the button on the fox's pokeball, recalling him back. He glanced at Valorie questioningly.

_Oh, don't worry. I can float, remember? No need for me to even touch those grimy rails._

He smiled at her willingness and began to climb down. He was right. The walls were tight, but he had an easy time getting down. Zach must have designed the place, and there's no way he would make it difficult for himself to get through. He might not be a very large man, but he was certainly bigger than David himself. The rungs were rough, and he had to be careful not to cut himself, lest he get infected. No need to add to his worries.

The climbing downward went on for almost a minute, and David knew he must be decently far underground by that point. It was completely dark, except the small bit of light coming from above, and even that was dim, since the still barely showing sunlight could only shine through the one window in the house.

Zach came down right after Valorie, who quickly just fell, slowing her descent rather spectacularly. She was lucky she didn't have to risk her hands. Zach checked himself and brushed his torso down, getting any lingering dust off himself. "Haha, now prepare to be wowed." Zach strolled away from the small patch of light and fell into the darkness to the side.

Lights came on, shining from the ceiling around the hole. Florescent bulbs hung from the roof, illuminating the room, which David now recognized to be quite large. The floor was simple concrete, dull and gray, and the walls were mostly dirt, but there were small patches of concrete where there were outlets, most of which were taken up by the lights. '_So that's how they get the light… mooch off of Jublife through these.'_ Against the wall was what appeared to be a nice desk with a computer sitting on top of it. Or at least, the desk would be nice if it wasn't covered in dust from years of being left alone. Couches were placed in the middle of the room, nice and plushy, all around an equally dust covered coffee table. David was sure they were full of bugs, but he went over and sat on a couch anyway. He was to tired to care much.

"Well, you wowed me." David said simply, closing his eyes.

"I thought I would, but that's not why we're here. This is where the magic happens! Here, we plan targets, take jobs, and do whatever the hell we want. Sound good? Good. Well, I should revise. I do what I want. You guys have to do what I say." Zach sat down across from David and propped his legs up on the table, put his hands behind his head, and laid back as far as possible.

As more of Zach's men streamed in, the couches filled up, and eventually some had to stand. Most just talked amongst themselves in the down time they had. No point in being attentive when there was nothing to be done.

One of the men approached Zach. "Sir, we still have the matter of that girl…" he said. _Oh yeah… That girl they found up in Floaroma! I forgot about her.'_

"Eh, bring her in and let's see. Gotta fill her in on what's happened." Zach said passively. He waved his hand to send the man off to retrieve the girl, and closed his eyes. It was barely a minute before he came back, holding in tow said unfortunate soul. David closed his eyes, too tired to really look. He could feel Valorie's presence beside him, a kind of warm glow of acceptance coming from her. She must have already been getting used to the new life. After so long with her old trainer it wasn't surprising that she was used to such situations.

"Here she is. Half dead, as I said. Right now she's just asleep, checked for a pulse up there. shouldn't be too hard to wake her up, anyway." David heard him say.

There was a hard whipping noise David recognized as a slap to the face. He opened his eyes to see what was going on, but he only found himself stiff from surprise.

"Ow!" Sabrina yelped, rubbing her face with a weary look on her face. There was a red hand shaped mark on her usually flawless face, but you didn't have to be a genius to know something was wrong. Her skin was flared red, burned almost everywhere. Clothes smoldering in ash, and hair that was brittle and weak.

"So you're the girl I've heard so much about? Not too impressive, I say." Zach laughed put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm just kiddin', I'm sure you've seen better days. Have a seat and we'll talk, mkay?" he gestured to the couch David was sitting on, giving her permission to sit with him.

Sabrina's gaze followed his hand until it landed on the last person she expected to see. "David!" She stood up and rushed to him, pulling him into a hug, though quickly releasing him. She winced in pain, even a mere hug causing her burns to sear.

"Sabrina! What are you doing here?" David asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. Her body was warm to the touch, warmer than usual. She was in anything but good condition.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Zach asked, pointing at the two of them, a confused expression on his face.

"Um, yeah. We were travel buddies until we got separated." David answered the man.

Sabrina gave him a hard look. "Separated the day after we started our travels, no less." she scoffed.

"Ah, so I get three new hands that are acquainted. I dunno whether that's good or bad, but whatever. Anyway, girly, I saved your life, got it? Now I got work to do and don't feel like explaining. I'm sure David there knows what to tell you. Don't screw up, kid." Zach told her. He then proceeded to close his eyes, put his hand on his chest, and go to sleep.

"David, what are you doing here? How did I get here? Where are we anyway?" Sabrina showered David with questions, not giving him time to answer anything. He could hear an edge to her voice that was just pure joy. It must have hurt being away from him so long.

"Sabrina, calm down. We're in a wooden shack near Jublife, got it? That guy, Zach, his men found you over near Floaroma and brought you here. You heard him, he saved your life. Sad to say, though. Anyway, about the easiest I can put it is we're now being forcefully employed."

"What do you mean?" Sabrina asked.

David looked around and put his head next to her ear. "He's a killer, Sabrina. We can't trust him. I was arrested for an unspecified crime, and he raided the court house during my trial, kidnapped me, and took me here. I've seen him kill people, and I know he won't hesitate to do the same to us. We're stuck doing what he says for now."

Sabrina looked up at him, fear in her eyes. She didn't want to believe it. "You… you mean…"

"Sabrina, there's nothing we can do right now. On to important matters! Where did you get these burns from? You look pitiful!" David asked. He seriously did wonder. It couldn't possibly have been from…

"Some fire in Eterna Forest. It was fast, and hard to get out of. Poor Darumaka was knocked out, and my leafeon fell just after evolving too. I probably would be dead if it weren't for my little savior here." She held out a pokeball and showed it to David. David felt guilt down in his gut. A fire in Eterna Forest. It couldn't be anything else. She had been caught in the fire that he accidentally started. There weren't words for how horrible he felt right then. He had hurt one of his best friends. "This little Misdreavus followed me around the entire trip. Scared the living crap out of me a few times, the mean little thing, but when it came to worst it was helpful. It's little body is useful for something. It saw me fall from the smoke and rushed right over. I guess I entertained it enough with my fear, because it attached itself to my face to save me."

David got hung up on that. "What? Attached to your face?"

"Oh yeah. Little thing works like a gas mask! It's a ghost type, so its body is mostly gas, but I guess it's body structure let's it keep out dangerous substances, smoke for example. I could breathe through it, and avoid the smoke. All that mattered then was the heat from the fire, but that was pretty hard to avoid. Ended up getting out of the forest, then just falling from exhaustion." Sabrina put the pokeball back on her belt. "Managed to put it on a pokeball before going out, though. Seemed to let me, didn't put up a struggle at all."

David sat there, just relieved that she was alright. The fire was monstrous, he couldn't even imagine if the small ghost type wasn't there to help… _She got burned from… us… didn't she?_ Valorie spoke in his mind, guilt stricken in her voice as well. No wonder he felt it so badly, she was putting off the emotion from right beside him, almost touching.

'_I'm afraid so… At least she's alright, though.'_

_At least…_

"So I guess that's the Gardevoir you got in Eterna?" Sabrina asked.

Valorie looked up, noticing she was being addressed. She sent out a message so both of them could 'hear'. _I'm glad he did, too. He's good company. Hi… Sabrina, was it?_ Sabrina was taken aback by the voice in her head.

"So she has a talking method too? You get all the interesting pokemon…" She pouted.

"Hey, I don't have a living gas mask."

"True, true…"

* * *

Everyone was asleep in the room. Most of the men lying on the floor, a couple on the couches that were available. David and Sabrina were on opposite ends of one of the longer ones, sleeping peacefully after the tiring day before. There were only two minds left working at that hour. Zach, plotting his next go at the world, and Valorie, contemplating her life up to then.

It was all horrible. Raised by Vlad from a Ralts, and abused for her entire life. Until David came along she didn't really knowing anything but pain. She had been so happy when Vlad dropped her and David came to her rescue. No one had ever shown her that kindness.

And the newcomer, Sabrina. She seemed nice enough. David had good choice in friends, from what she noticed. All of his pokemon were much kinder than any of Vlad's, who loved torturing her day in and day out. Sabrina was yet another great example.

Kind to David, especially. They must have been close. How she didn't hesitate at all before hugging the boy, if not for an instant before she was hurt. Valorie was happy for him, being reunited with his friend. Or, a mix of emotions. Happiness that her hero was with his companion again… and something else. More prevalent than the happiness, actually. Something bothersome.

Valorie eventually fell asleep, in a sour mood for reasons she didn't dare recognise. Perhaps she'd get to know Sabrina, and what she meant to David, in the future. That was all that was important, really.

* * *

**Another chapter, more happy readers! Remember to read chapter one again. Read and Review, all that good stuff.**


	10. 10-Plans

**If you read the previous chapter 10, there is no need for you to read this. What was chapter 10 is now chapters 10 and 11 set into two different parts. I just realized that I'm not a good enough author to try to set a bar of 10k word chapters, and quite honestly seperating them is a kind of test for something else. Anyway, if you've read what was chapter 10 before, you're now waiting for 12, and that'a all that matters. Thank you for your patience.**

* * *

It's dreams that set David into moods. Dreams determined his day. For most, the first feeling you have when you wake up sets the stage for how you feel the rest of the day. When you wake up, if a person were to yell at you early in the morning, it's not uncommon that you get angry. Generally, this causes a person to be irritated the rest of the day. The same goes for joy, though it's perhaps less prevalent an emotion. Easily wiped away with the slightest bit of a less desirable emotion, happiness was by far the weakest in the grasp of the brain. Human nature causes people to focus on what's bad rather than what is good. You could be perfectly happy in the morning, and then the feeling be sullied in an instant. A close relative died, and now your day has been turned from the beautiful aspect of an amazing outing, to the dreary overcast sky of the grayest day. Your mind now lingers on the fact that you can't see you great grandfather anymore, the one who owned the woodshop, and would make you so many wonderful little toys when you visited. Happiness could also be whisked away by anger, a small squabble over the last waffle in the fridge. Your brother takes it from your hand in the same instance that you removed it from the fridge. You become defensive and fight for it back. You fail. Your father comes in the room and take the waffle from you, his only goal to stop the whining as quickly as possible, and he knows your brother is louder by far, and more likely to put up a fight. Reluctantly, you hand the waffle to the childish imp and attempt to hide your thoughts from everyone, letting them boil on until one day you snap over the smallest thing, your anger coming out in torrents over a similar fight over a Hot-Pocket.

Though, unlike other people, David was not focused on one of the first things he feels in the day, but rather the last thing he dreamt he felt. Dreams are like little experiences, except mildly less vivid. David simply adored the little fantasies that he unconsciously thought up, and depending on how his mind was working, was how he would wake up. It is rather more difficult to ruin a good mood when you've already been feeling it for hours, and that was how David's mind worked. The mood the dream set, was the mood he was very likely to be in throughout the day. This particular morning, David awoke with a strong sense of bliss, as if all of his desires had come to light. The emotion radiated from his body in an almost visible manner. A light red hue emanated, giving a faint light in the darkness that surrounded him. The glow was mesmerising, a sensation he had never had warmed him, almost light a small fire, kindled inside his skin, burning on at a pleasing heat, never hurting as would be expected. It shone through him, the light red of it's brilliance, the fire, though never flickering.

Though the darkness around was nerve racking. It meant he could now separate dream from reality, and he now wished it had been the other way around. What he now realized was but a dream was much preferable to the fate that he knew awaited him. An unwelcome shadow of lurking evil made it's way into his thoughts as he anticipated the day. The very man who saved his life, and the life of what after only a few days had become one of his most trusted partners, was surely to make their existence a hint more painful to bear. David had never been one to hate life. His was relatively nice and easy. Go to school, deal with the teenage drama the transpired, go home, repeat. Every once in a while have a little fun with Shade. Whatever the example, it was all better than his situation now.

Zach, he knew, would be a cruel master. His murderous tendencies made his wretched enough, but surely with them there he would not stop at simply hurting his own reputation. He would sully them as well. It would be in the slightest bit surprising if they were forced to kill people. His ways were sick and twisted, his mind was snapped in two, a twig that had fallen the tree. And then probably been stepped on a number of times. And burnt. Zach was not the type to let anyone off easy. Thinking of all the other people in the room, everyone that the absence of light hit from him, had killed someone in the name of Zach. _Zach the Ripper_ David found himself thinking. A small, but guilty chuckle left his throat at his own thought. It was only a name, and David honestly knew almost nothing about the original Jack the Ripper, who had terrorized Kanto. Still, he found it humorous.

Adjusting himself where he was laying, David swung his legs from the cushions and onto the ground, a cold surface that was, he remembered, only made of concrete. There was no heating system in the room, making the boy wonder why he had not woken up earlier. He usually found it quite difficult to sleep in the cold. Closing his eyes for a moment, he started shivering. A blanket would be nice at this point. Opening them again, David realized there was not even a difference between having his eyes closed and open. Both were equally dark. The room smelled of sweat and beer, two things that David could have predicted being in Zach's hide out. Even after such a long time of disuse, there was no way a stench as bad as what had surely been there before would ever go away without extensive cleaning, and maybe not even then.

There was a shuffling around him as someone moved. He noticed the bright glow that had engulfed his body slowly faded, leaving him in an even darker state than before. The sound was like cloth slowly stretching across itself, a kind of rough, but still smooth feel to it, A gentle sliding. The noise was quickly followed by another sense, touch. This feeling was of a soft fabric, a cross between velvet and silk. It was warm to the touch, and David could only just resist the urge to latch to it. He was still so cold in the room without anything to cover himself with… _So you're awake?_

Valorie's voice sounded in his head. Its smooth melodic tone, like a soothing chorus of chimes. Being in her presence simply gave you a large range of emotions. In the mornings, she was the type, though not human, to feel what they first experience in the mornings. Without something happening, she was still undecided. David could feel a presence of grogginess. Perhaps she wasn't really a morning person. Come to think of it, he had never seen her wake up, per say. Only asleep and awake, never in between. It wasn't surprising, though. She'd only been with him one night before. It wasn't like he had much time to catch her at moments like that. '_I suppose the cold woke me up. Everyone else is still asleep, I think. I can't really tell.'_ David pulled his hands above his head, stretching and yawning. He was still half asleep, and he wished he had a shower to wake him up. It was always hard to wake up without a shower. He didn't have much time to have coffee, which was a love that was odd for his age, and he didn't even bother to pretend to himself that any would be had here.

_I can feel their minds. It seems a couple are waking up, but it doesn't seem they'll be awake enough to stand any time soon._ Another shuffle was heard as she lowered herself off the back of the couch and sat beside him. He couldn't see her, but David imagined she was sitting with her hands in her lap, contemplating what was going on. David truly did feel sorry for her.

'_Valorie, Valorie... what are we to do?'_ David mused to himself, while projecting his thoughts to the only person in the area that showed any signs of life. David kept his eyes closed. No point in letting himself waste effort keeping them open when he wouldn't be able to see anything one way or the other.

_Sabrina's waking up. I'll make a temporary link between us three so we can talk without waking everyone else. Is that okay, David? _Valorie politely informed him. It must be about eight in the morning. Unless Sabrina had a boat to catch, she was very precise in the times she woke up at, in a routine of almost always waking between seven forty-five, and eight fifteen. David had no idea how she managed to keep the schedule so regularly. A yawn drifted to David's ears from the other side of the room, presumably one of the men sleeping in the floor. It was low and guttural, filling the entire room. It was a miracle no one woke up from simply that noise alone.

'_Good morning, Sabrina.'_ There was the sound of an object slamming into couch cushions. Sabrina had lashed out in fright at hearing David's voice in her head, which the boy now realized was probably warranted. It wasn't every day that a previously audible boy's voice suddenly appeared in your mind. There was more scraping of cloth as Sabrina slowly recoiled back into her previous position.

'_Jerk, don't scare me like that...'_ she thought. She was quick to catching on that Valorie had set up a link. She must have recalled that Valorie could speak through telepathy and assumed that a link such as the one they were sharing was possible. Curling into a cold ball on her side, Sabrina spoke again through thought. '_So what's the plan?'_

When it came to Sabrina, there was no getting around the bush. She ignored the small talk and jumped straight into the meat of the conversation. It was almost no fun that way. '_What? No goodmorning or anything?'_ David feigned some hurt into his thoughts, and made sure she received the message that way. He smiled as he thought. Simple things like that made him think of simpler times. When not everyone wanted to kill him. Valorie shifted beside him, and grabbed his arm for a moment as she stretched, squeezing it lightly, then released back to how she had been before. Even a Gardevoir was stiff in the morning.

Sabrina chuckled quietly to herself, though in the silence even David could hear it. '_Good morning. Now what's the plan?'_

'_You act like I've had time to think about it.' _David projected. Though he had been with Zach for almost a day, the boy never really did have much time to consider an escape plan. Mostly he focused on not getting shot in the head.

'_How long have you been here?'_ Sabrina asked. That was one thing that didn't come up before they went to sleep the night before. Honestly David had been trying to avoid the subject, since he knew the questions that were sure to follow…

'_About a day. '_ He replied simply, trying to cut that topic short.

'_Wait, you didn't tell me how you got here? Did I ask that already, or am I forgetting?'_ Sabrina tore herself up in confusion. David could understand. People swore he couldn't remember any more than two weeks ago. Nothing seemed to stick in his brain unless it was a piece of useless information.

David sighed. Too late. If he tried giving her half answers it would just prolong the suffering before she got fed up and angry. Sabrina was never one with extensive patience. A little stalling wouldn't go very far before she'd lose her temper. Only consolation David could think up was she was cute when she got angry. '_He kidnapped me from a court trial. I told you last night, yes.'_ He sucked in a large amount of air, anticipating the questioning to come.

'_Why were at a trial? And why kidnap you of all people?'_ and there it was. David released his breath. The jig was up.

'_Heh… funny story, you see. I might've started a fire in Eterna...'_ He scratched the back of his neck, not that anyone could see him, though.

'_Just a fire? Doesn't seem too bad, though. How big was it?'_

'_I may have burned down the entire city… and forest...'_ David closed his eyes even tighter than they were before, almost hurting his head at that point.

Sabrina was silent for a moment. Valorie made short work of reading the workings of her mind. It was obvious Sabrina was disappointed, but instead the Gardevoir feared the exact same thing going through Sabrina's mind that David was. Slowly she thought, trying to figure out how to respond to news like that. An entire city. '_How the hell do you burn down an entire city?!'_ Sabrina thought, making careful effort not to project it. Valorie heard it anyway.

It was a slow two minutes before anyone spoke again. David's nerves were running high, his hands writhing in each other, waiting anxiously for the next question. His mind raced with petty excuses, but he knew she wouldn't fall for any of them. There was no lie great enough to cover up what he had done, and it would just make him feel more guilty. The waiting was worse than if she had immediately realized the fact. After another minute, Sabrina opened up again. The pieces had fallen into place. '_David.'_

'_Yes?'_ here it comes…

'_Would that happen to be the same fire that...'_

'_Yes...'_ David looked down and sighed. There was no telling how she would react now. He had caused her to almost die in that forest. How could she just recover from that? Though, in his defence it wasn't his fault. The entire affair was an accident. If anything it was that whore, Lortia's doing.

Sabrina sat in silence. Valorie scanned her emotions, tentatively. In all actuality, Valorie didn't even want to know, but her curiosity got the better of her. Sabrina was hurt. Confusion wafted through her mind in yellow tendrils, mixed with the greyness of sleep. A light blue disappointment set in, sitting next to the yellow. Grayness floated throughout it all, changing the colors of the emotions slightly. It diluted most emotions, but especially bad ones were made worse through the gray's sleepy effects. The dull yellow's confusion turned into a mustardy color, the confusion deepening, and the light blue become slightly darker, turning disappointment into a darker shade of fear. The confusion began to swirl, mixing itself into the blue, becoming green, then it began to brighten. The uncertainty of her mind began to bother her, littering the soup with small oranges of irritation, which mixed with the already jumbled swirls, completing the reaction. It turned a low, dull red of anger.

'_Just… just… how? Why? Oh David...'_ Valorie's eyes widened. This girl was special. Her mind was turning into rapids of anger, consuming her thoughts and everything. Yet still, she was so calm sounding in her thoughts. Sabrina sat up, yet another raspy voice of cloth on cloth. Slowly adjusting herself, Valorie watched her. In the darkness, the only light available was emotion. While Sabrina spun with red, David crouched in a dark blue of regret. The red came to the blue and began to mix.

'_I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to… I didn't mean to do anything! I didn't want to hurt anyone, I didn't even want a fire. I was just trying to get out-'_ He cut short. Her arm on his shoulder. Her warm touch was similar to Valorie's clothing. It was soft, an intoxicating feeling in the cold of the unfortunate circumstances they were in. Her skin was so soft, almost like a silk. Lightly touching his shoulder, it started to move. David tentatively raised his hand and placed it on hers. The hand under his own slid down his back, curving around and it met her other. Embracing him in a warm hug, Sabrina let herself weep.

Valorie watched the event transpire, and was surprised with the changing of colors in front of her eyes. The red boiled over and began to simmer into a light green. Not a dark green as envy would appear, but much much lighter. Forgiveness.

'_I-I understand. It's okay, David. I'm fine.'_ Her eyes let loose a small stream of tears. To Valorie's eyes, even the tears were colored. They were colored with a light red of joy. No… not joy… the color was darker than that. Ever so slightly falling into…

"Rise and shine, boys!" Everyone jumped. Zach had yelled throughout the entire room, waking everyone. The grey that had settled quickly melted into a vast sea of dark yellow, confusion rising like a tide over everyone in the room. David flinched, releasing his now equal hold on Sabrina, as she had managed to hold on him. They weren't quick enough. "Mkay, I don't care what you do in your spare time, but please leave displays of affection for out of our eyes. Thank you."

Light flooded the room, a piercing white that stabbed into the eyes of everyone into the room. Groggy hands quickly went up to even sleepier eyes as the sudden change hurt them all. Groans filled the space, the only other sound was Zach's laughing as everyone got over the mild pain he had inflicted. Now David could see the rest of the room for what it was. No more than a bunch of men lying on the floor, almost piled on top of each other for lack of space. More than a few angry looks were aimed at Zach as he was just getting over his fit. If looks could kill, Zach would be dead more times than anyone cared enough to count.

"So now you're all awake! There's work to be done!" The sound as his hands clapped reverberated all throughout the room, louder than any clap needed to be. "Kyle, come help me." He pointed to a man lying on a couch, presumably Kyle, ten shifted his gaze to another man. "And you too. Bastard. I forgot your name. Don't bother reminding me." He turned his back away and walked to the small battered coffee table he used as a work desk. Mostly for planning where he was going to kill next. He wasn't the type to choose who he was going to kill, but he liked carefully planning where to be in the most most public space possible.

David and Sabrina watched him walk over, Valorie shifting in her seat uncomfortably. The emotions Zach fed off were nothing short of bloodlust and glee. The two mixed together were never a good sign. Come to think of it, the exact same colors had been glowing off of him when he "rescued" David and herself. She must have been too caught up in the moment to notice at all.

One of the men lying on the ground spoke up. "And what are we to do?" Zach looked around for the speaker, but it seemed out of all the people on the ground he couldn't pinpoint who. "I dunno. Do whatever. Try not to kill each other. Until I give permission, at least…" He shrugged and went back to trying to get to his planning desk, not even bothering to avoid stepping on the tired bodies of his workers, instead favoring listening to all the yelps and groans that dared escape their lips.

A plan entered David's mind. There was no warning, it was just there in an instant. Valorie noticed his change in demeanor, and almost probed his mind to find out what, but stopped herself before she did something she knew he would see as rude. "Um… Zach?" He carefully worded. He wasn't sure if he could get this to work.

The murderer raised an eyebrow. "Call me Sir. And what is it?" His voice was rough in annoyance. Two people speaking up without permission in the span of five minutes? Ludicrous!

"Well, you see 'Sir', Sabrina and I were wondering if we could go out and train. You know, we've both been terribly busy recently and haven't had time to…" He spoke slowly, trying to word the request carefully.

"Yeah, I found your record. Too busy burning down cities and all that shit. I like you, boy, I really do. Got the guts to attack and entire town by yourself. Admirable. I'll have Klide go with you to make sure ya don't do nothin' dumb, though, got it? Don't try anything funny. " Zach sat down on the couch opposite David, the same place he had fallen asleep the night before. Waving his hand, he dismissed them two.

'_Don't worry. I'm just buying us time to plan our escape.'_ David sent through the telepathic link. The two teens stood up, closely followed by the Gardevoir. Sabrina's dark hair was a mess on the back of her head. In the few minutes she'd been up there was no time to fix it, so no one blamed her. Trying their best not to step on anyone on their way out, reaching the ladder took all of a minute.

"Hey, girly!" Zach called to Sabrina right before the started climbing the rusted rungs upward. She looked back at him questioningly. "Nice ass." He nodded and went back to conversing with Kyle and the other nameless guy. Sabrina showed a face of surprise, followed by a haughty puff, and an insulted look settled down on her face. She held onto the red, shoddy metal bars and pulled herself upward through the small hole that led to the shack above. David followed shortly after, after Zach's comment, making a point not to look upward while doing this.

Finally they reached the inside of the shack, which was partially flooded with bright, natural, morning light. Even from within the shack, the warmth of the early autumn sun was enough to warm the room, already showing at least a twenty degree difference between there and the basement Zach currently used as a lair. Walking outside showed a welcome sight. Grass a light shade of green grew on the ground, creating a nice mat of fluff on the ground, The sky was perfectly blue, not a cloud to be seen. Trees just turning littered the area surrounding the shack. They had been told they were close to Jublife, but anyway, they must have been a good distance away from the city itself!

"You guys training, you said?" Klide finally said something from behind the three companions. His voice was low and smooth, befitting a singer, actually. David didn't have to stretch his imagination far to see the man on stage, leaning over a microphone, singing to a crowd of cheering people. His teeth were perfectly white, and he towered over David and Sabrina. Red hair on top of his head, and freckles to complete a ginger look.

"Um, yeah. That was the plan." David answered.

"You guys gonna battle or summat, then? I haven't seen a good pokemon battle in who knows how long." He leaned against the side of the shack, looking behind himself to make sure no skin touched the wood. Splinters were the worst kind of pain in his opinion.

"I suppose we could. Sabrina?"

"Oh sure. I'd like to test out your strength now. Ooh, and we have an equal amount of pokemon again, so it's about fair!" She grabbed a ball off of her belt, then had a second thought. "Did you manage to beat Gardenia before you burnt down the city?"

"Oh yeah! The fire was actually started after a celebratory dinner…" David scratched his neck again. It was only reflex, anyway.

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "You never cease to amaze me. By the way, my burns are feeling a lot better today. They probably won't be healed for a long while, but they don't hurt near as much as last night. Oh the things a good night of sleep'll do." She pressed the button on the pokeball she was holding and her Misdreavus shone through the light into existence.

"Well, if we're using our newest pokemon... " David gestured at Valorie. "If that's alright, of course." Valorie perked up and nodded in delight. She could tell from his emotions that he had another plan other than training, so she planned to keep the link open while fighting. '_Okay, so the real reason we're out here. I thought it might be easier to plan an escape.'_ "Valorie, use shadow ball!" The Gardevoir raised her hands above her head and started focusing on creating a ball of shadow, purple and black in color. It was actually kind of difficult, keeping a link between the three of them going while trying to attack. Lots of focus, but nothing Valorie couldn't handle.

'_Obviously, but what do you suppose we do? Zach has us under watch even now.'_ "Misdreavus, will-o-wisp!" The small, semi-gas mask ghost spat fire, The red flames shot straight at Valorie, too quickly for her to avoid during her concentrative state. Luckily, the burning attack didn't have much kick to it, so she was still able to focus on creating a larger shadow ball, even with the pain.

'_While this is true, there has to a point where it slips his mind. Just seeing what he's done, what he's like, I don't think he always takes everything into account. He's bound to screw up at some point, you know.'_ Valorie released her shadow ball at the small ghost, just barely missing it. With all her focus on keeping the link up, this fight was much harder to finish than normal.

'_True, true. But we don't know when that will be, and we can't possibly stay here for an extended time.'_ Sabrina smiled deviously as she knew her next attack. "Hex!" she shouted to her new companion. The ghost released a pulse of purple gas straight at Valorie, hitting her without problem.

'_Gah!'_ Valorie shouted into the link. It went down for a moment before she regained her focus. A super effective hit, double powered from the burn. Good choice, but it would take more to beat her.

"Valorie, try another shadow ball!" '_But that might be what it takes, Sabrina! There's not much we can do, period.'_ Valorie shot off a rather small shot at the Misdreavus, attempting to trade power for accuracy. It worked, and the small ghost fainted upon contact.

Sabrina looked insulted, not to mention surprised. "Hey, a fully evolved pokemon against a basic? That's hardly fair…" Smiling, she recalled her small ghost. "It seems I have to move on again… Leafeon, go!" She released another one of her pokemon, this time her former Eevee. It had evolved since David last saw it, now a green fox-like pokemon, its tail almost identical to a leaf, and its fur now a light yellow color. '_Why don't we run off now? We could take this Klide guy easy!'_ "Leafeon, use bite!" The plant fox ran up to Valorie at an intense speed, not hesitating to follow its master's orders.

'_But what if he calls for help? Even from out here, Zach's sure to hear. If we don't get away quickly, and silently, Zach will waste no time in coming after us.' _"Valorie, dodge and use psychic!" Valorie followed David's orders, floating quickly out of the way and focusing on holding the Leafeon still. It raised into the air, though not as high as the Gardevoir would have preferred. She was still too preoccupied to fight as well as she normally did. Dropping the Eeveelution like a bag of lead, Valorie went back to focusing on the link.

Sabrina was silent for a moment. At least in the link, out loud she called another command to her pokemon. "Another bite, try to follow her doge pattern!" '_So you suggest we do what he says until chance arises to get out? What if one of us gets hurt? There's no telling what he'll do, as you said.'_

'_But that's our only chance. I wish I had some genius plan to get us out right now, but we're just going to have to deal with what's being thrown at us right now, and you know that.'_ "Valorie, careful now! Use hypnosis!" Valorie closed her eyes and focused on the grey emotion, an emotion that wasn't even a true emotion, just a feeling that had a color attached. Focusing with all her mind would allow, she tried to push herself into the Leafeon's mind, depositing the feelings there. Opening her eyes, Valorie found the Leafeon fast asleep.

'_Do you even care right now? He could kill us any moment, and you suggest we just stay here?'_ "Come on, Leafeon, get up! Hury!" She waved her arms up and down in a gesture to stand, calling out to her sleeping pokemon.

'_Of course I care! I'm trying to do what's best! If we make a run for it now, with Kyle here, he'll kill us for certain! If we wait there's a chance we can get off without too much damage!' _"Mkay, girl, hit her with a signal beam for a knockout!" Valorie placed her hands on her chest shard and straightened them out again, firing a multicolored beam at her target. The Leafeon woke up just before it hit her, but it was too late. Using Valorie was almost unfair on David's part. Her time with Vlad had obviously made her much stronger than what Sabrina could muster. The Leafeon fainted, and Sabrina recalled her pet.

'_Fine… I don't like it. I'll never forgive you if we're stuck here forever.'_ "Darumaka, time to shine!"

"Valorie, come on back. Shade, do your work!" David pressed the button on another one of his pokeballs, and accompanied with a red glowing light, Shade appeared, one hand on the ground, facing the Darumaka with a smile on his face.

"Oh yay! When was the last time you used me? Snowpoint I think?"

"I can't remember…" '_You probably shouldn't. Now let's finish our battle, shall we?'_ "Shade, use dark pulse!" The dark werefox slashed at the air with his purple claws, sending a wave of darkness at his opponent.

"Darumaka, use flare blitz!" The small, ditsy pokemon wobbled out a few feet, looking about the fall at any moment. It started glowing brightly, almost too much to look at, a fire three times the pokemon's size engulfing it. Darumaka ran quickly at Shade, jumping over the waves of shadow that the Zoroark had lazily attacked with. Slamming its searing body into his fur, Shade's eyes grew wide as the breath was knocked out of him.

"Get a grip, Shade. You've fought this thing before! Remember back in middle school?"

"Oh shut up! He had just hatched back then! He's stronger now!" Shade whined. "Why don't YOU try taking a flare blitz head on? Then you might eat your words."

"Don't be sassy. Focus on the fight! Use night slash!" Shade smiled and ran up to Darumaka, who seemed to have taken slight damage from the flames. Fire types were hot, but could still only endure extreme temperatures for so long… Slashing at it's stomach before it could react, Shade quickly sprang back, jumping high into the air before the small charm pokemon could retaliate.

Sabrina didn't falter. "Darumaka! Come on! Stand up! Use another flare blitz! That should take him down!" A look of resolution on his face, Darumaka stood. He was engulfed in flames once more, these ones bigger and brighter than before. Then another light. This one was brighter, a white flash surrounded the small pokemon. It stayed with him as he ran at Shade, his speed increasing. David watched in amazement as the light slowly disappeared, letting them see a now large pokemon running in front of them. A red ape, with huge white teeth on its face. The flames grew larger and brighter even then, coming at Shade even faster than before.

Shade stood there dumbfounded. He was slightly confused at the turn of events, but it was only a moment before he realized the predicament he was in. "SHIT!" the fox quickly sprang back, turned around, and ran as fast as his legs could carry him away from the charging Darmanitan. Too late, however, as the orangutang slammed into Shade, sharing its heat with the fox. Unwelcome heat. Scorching heat. Heat that no matter if you're human or pokemon, you don't want to be anywhere near.

Shade fainted on contact. Though it was only for a moment before he was up again, it still counted. He had been knocked out, if not only for a few seconds. "That son of a bitch…" Shade walked slowly back to David, his head hanging low in shame.

"Oh, don't be like that. You tried, at least. Useless pokemon." David said, smiling. Seeing shade upset was a rare thing, and he knew it embarrassed the pokemon to be caught like that. "Come on back. Counter, up and at 'em!" David's Lucario sprung from its ball, landing in front of him. "Use force palm!" Counter looked at the Darmanitan and ran towards him. Arm behind him, the jackal quickly slammed his palm into Darmanitan's face. It was a wonder no teeth got knocked out. Even with the evolution, after a strong force palm and a night slash, there's wasn't much the charm pokemon could do but fall over fainted.

Sabrina recalled her pokemon, and put the ball back in her bag. "You're good. I await the day I can beat you."

"Haha, I wait the day you give me a challenge!" David retorted playfully. Sabrina walked over to him rolling her eyes.

"Meanie." She hugged him there, and held him for a minute before letting go. David honestly loved the feeling. Physical contact of any sort was a good feeling, and Sabrina was oh-too glad to give it out. He returned the embrace for a minute until they were interrupted.

"Boss requests your presence." A man called from the shack. The three looked towards the building and found Klide asleep against the wall, and the man from last night that had escorted David there calling from the hole in the wall. "window". "He's ready to assign you your first job. Meet him downstairs."


	11. 11-Mistakes

**As I said before, this is truly the second half of the former chapter 10. If you read chapter 10 before the edit, then you're waiting for episode 12.**

**I'll be honest, after this chapter I considered changing the rating. This chapter is... dark. Even by my twisted, horrid standards, this chapter is dark. Just... just read.**

* * *

**In a world of darkness, where evil reigns**

**nothing can suppress the horrid pains**

**of life that can no longer live**

**but all in all be must believe**

**that light eternal can reign supreme.**

* * *

People streamed into the arena. Within recent years, the city had undergone changes to attract more attention. Since Eterna had gained in popularity, the cost of living had not changed in Jublife, and with less people coming in and out of the town, this caused one of the largest economic crisis of the city's lifetime. This was solved very simply: by building a pokemon arena! Where before you had to travel all the way to the islands above the league to have official contests, now there was one in the more easily accessible area of Jublife. Though there was still only one, so the waiting list to get in was fantastically long, and the line of people waiting to get in was what kept the city up and running. Since the XTransceiver was invented, the Poketch company had neglected to form bonds with other technology creators, so that attraction of the city was long gone as well, going bankrupt within a few months of Holocaster's creation.

A fat man with a half grown beard on his neck, donned in an ugly floral pattern shirt, and pants that were much too revealing for a man of his size to be wearing, tried to get past the ticket booth. Evidently, the one he had was not a true ticket, instead a copy of one that didn't get through the scan. Other than him, there was no one even slightly suspicious in the crowd. A group of teenagers, all with pokemon, walked in through back, after being checked by a person. They were evidently going to be battling that day. The sky had managed to keep its blue color throughout the day, giving the perfect conditions for an outside match. There was no specific task for David and Sabrina other than find someone who looked easy. That was the plan Zach had given them, and that was what they were going to do. Accompanied once more by Klide, they set out to follow orders, if not reluctantly.

The large blue building was made of stone, rising hundreds of feet into the sky to fit the maximum number of people. It had cost David a large sum of his gym winnings to afford tickets. The was left with a measly ten thousand. Arena tickets were very expensive. He had no idea how the people who came to see most of them even stayed above poverty level. Following the sidewalk, he bypassed the fat man, still arguing with a guard, in favor of another check area. The lady checking their tickets was very nice, and she let them pass without much fuss, earning them an angry look from the unfortunate man, who had apparently been duped into buying fake tickets.

The inside of the arena was particularly less grand than the exterior, favoring bland concrete for walls and floor than the bright cement outside, and the blue paint on the walls. There were stands to either side of the two teens selling various foods, mostly hot dogs and fried… well, fried everything. David didn't pay much attention to them. He had other matters to attend to, lest he invoke Zach's anger.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" A man had unintentionally walked into David, a short guy, barely anything but skin and bones. Blonde hair and blue eyed, he gave an apologetic look to David as he adjusted his path and walked around him. He was rather unobservant, most obviously.

They kept walking along. They decided it would be best to get their seats and watch a match before doing their job, that way everyone would be distracted. _Are you sure you want to do this?_ Valorie spoke into his mind. She sounded worried, but that was warranted. David didn't like what they were doing any more than she did.

'_You're the one that can read emotions, Valorie. Of course I don't! But we have to. It's the only way I can even try to keep you and Sabrina safe.'_ David would have closed his eyes while saying that, almost crying as it was, but he didn't want to run into anyone. Of course, in such a crowded space as the battle arena, this was almost impossible. Everyone was almost being run into with every step they took. There was barely any light in the large expanse of selling booths, like a huge tunnel leading to the seats. A large rectangle of light from outside, where the seating was, almost completely illuminated the room, but with that was the only light source, it was barely enough to give anyone vision past a few feet. Like moths, everyone beelined for the light ahead, just wanting to get to their stands. David and Sabrina were no different, going to their block the minute the chance arose, with a small break in the crowd.

_Why don't you just run now? We'd be sure to lose Klide in the crowd._ Valorie tried to convince him. It was tempting, he'd admit, but it was a risk David wasn't willing to take.

'_Along with losing each other. If one of us got separated, you can be sure that the first place Klide would go is the exit to catch us on our way out. It's simply not possible.'_ David sent back to his companion. She was looking out for him, he knew, but he couldn't do what she wanted. It just wasn't worth the try. If one of them was caught after a stunt like that… he'd never forgive himself.

The rows upon rows of bleachers were all blue chairs, all the way around in a huge oval, rising high into the sky. On opposite ends of the arena were jumbo screens that showed highlights of the battles, and close ups as they fought. Had it been any other situation, David might have actually liked to sit and enjoy the treat. Learn a few things from more experienced battlers. The people thinned out the further they reached in the seating, people out there sitting down to wait. The contests were scheduled to start at any minute. David looked at his ticket. A-16. They were in the right block, A, they just had to find their number… There it was! David motioned for Sabrina and Valorie to follow with his hand, walking a few steps upward to reach their seat, which was thankfully right next to the aisle.

'_Can you add Sabrina to the link again, Valorie?'_ David requested. He had the feeling she would need to be comforted right then. There was no way she was looking forward to the task ahead.

_Oh sure, one moment… there!_ Valorie concentrated on connecting to Sabrina's mind, which was rather more difficult in such a crowded place. With so many minds around, she didn't want to make the same mistake she had in Eterna, being careful to keep tabs on everyone around her, lest she absorb bad influence. Three tasks at hand, focusing on what was important at the moment, keeping her own attitude, and adding a person to her natural link. It was exhausting, even for a powerful psychic type like Gardevoir. Alakazam wouldn't be able to do much better!

'_David?'_ Sabrina felt a prodding in her mind as Valorie added her to the link. Valorie silently cursed herself. Mental prodding was supposed to be sensationless, except when a Gardevoir was completely enveloping itself to you, then there were mental effects, like the one's David had felt after capturing her. But just a simple link… that task must have been straining her more than she originally thought.

'_Sabrina. It's going to be okay. We do this, we're one step closer to escaping, I promise. We'll get out together as soon as possible.'_ David reassured her. She looked at David and sighed.

'_I know. We have a job to do… for now.'_ She relented. She sounded tough about it, but David knew her well enough to know she would be turmoil inside. Valorie could confirm the feeling, since she could see her emotions. Mostly yellow, still, and a bit of dark orange. She was afraid, and she couldn't hide it.

'_We can at least enjoy ourselves before doing this. Watch the show.'_ The Jumbo Screen turned on, along with the start of loud playing trumpets.'_Speak of the devil...'_ The iconic voice of Mannary Hutchens blasted through the stadium, almost loud enough to make David cover his ears. If they had been inside instead of out, it would have been unbearable.

"ARE YOU READY, JUBLIFE?!" He called over the microphone. His voice was low and powerful, putting excitement into the hearts of everyone there. A shout came from all around the stadium, calling to start the match. Everyone was thrilled. "'CAUSE WE'RE ABOUT TO HIGHLIGHT YOUR DAY! FIRST MATCH IS BETWEEN THE INFAMOUS GARBY LARTON" Garby? What kind of name was Garby? David watched the field below, bright green grass in one area, a sort of desert in another, and beside that a pool of water. In a circle arranged, like little slices of a clock around each other, all the different environments that could give a pokemon an edge in battle. From the side of the stadium to their left walked an average man, about twenty by the looks of it, red hair and pale skin, glasses hanging on his face. So that's what a Garby looks like.

"AND HIS CHALLENGER, MATTHEW MCSONNARS!" To their right, another average looking man, this one with black hair and dark skin. His muscles bulged from a tight shirt, obviously he was very trained. That wasn't the question though, the match all depended on the strength of the pokemon he had. "CHALLENGERS… GET READY… BATTLE!" Hutchens called out to the two competitors. David could see their lips move, but not the words they were saying. There was too much cheering from the crowd, and too much distance between them. Evidently, they both released their first pokemon. Garby had a houndoom, breathing fire as he was released. It's orange muzzle shone brilliantly with fire, black fur short on it's back, and grey horns cutting sharply out of its head. Matthew released a Purrloin, the small purple cat licking itself immediately as it hit the ground.

'_Suddenly I think there's less point in watching the match...'_ David sent through the link. For the first time since they arrived, David saw Sabrina smile in amusement. '_Come on, let's just get this over with then. This has started, people will be distracted. Ought to go before they get restless.'_ standing, he motioned for Klide to follow. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally lose him and get accused to ditching.

Valorie followed diligently, careful not to touch anyone. Emotion sharing was more prominent when physical contact was attained. David's body radiated with a light brown disgust. She was at least proud of him for not enjoying this at all. He simply felt a sense of need. Need to protect the ones he loved. A short sweep of his mind, not too intrusive, showed a strong urge to get Sabrina out of trouble. After all he'd done to her… the fire… he just wanted to make it better. His color changed. It gave a light blue of regret, then. He regretted the fire, too much to bear. I just wanted to go back in time and reverse it. Heart sinking into his stomach, he trudged on to do his uncivil duty. What had made him think of the fire? Valorie realized in her small sweep, she must have overloaded her psychic capabilities. A link, the problem, the people, and now a mind sweep. She was messing up all over the place with this much strain. She accidentally put the thought fresh in his mind instead of just examining it. Cursing herself again, she went back to just following silently behind.

David looked around for a target. It wasn't the plan simply kill them there. That would gain too much attention, and likely get them caught. All they had to do was abduct a person and bring them to Zach, and let him decide what to do with them. One person. That was all. David's stomach hurt with guilt. This wasn't a simple recruiting, he was sending someone to their death bed! how could he possibly go through with this?! To save his friends… but was it really worth it? Killing someone else just to spare your own life? But it wasn't to save himself, it was to save Sabrina. But was she worth it? N-no! Of course she was! There was nothing he wouldn't do to save her life! Why? Why would he do anything? What has she done for you? '_She's been there for me. I need her with me. I can't live without Sabrina, especially not after what I did to her.'_ So it's simple.

He couldn't bear to be without her.

There he was. The man that had bumped into David when they first entered the pokemon stadium. Blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin. Same guy. Pitiful looking, at the entrance. His eyes were worried, and he kept glancing at his watch, which he had to pull back the sleeve of his striped blue dress shirt to see. Khaki pants as well, he didn't seem quite dressed right to simply be coming to a pokemon battle. David swallowed air, and made his way to the pathetic man. Coming up behind, the boy wasn't seen, Sabrina and Valorie following close behind. Then David pulled the knife against his back, "Don't move." He said lightly into the man's ear. Oh, this hurt his soul.

The man's emotions changed from distress to fear in an instant. Valorie found he had been waiting on his new girlfriend to show up. This was supposed to be their second date, and she was half an hour late. He was starting to fear she had stood him up. Now a knife to his back, he tensed, dark orange invading all his thoughts. He didn't dare turn around. "Don't call for help, or the knife goes through you. Just come where I say. Any moves otherwise may cost your life." David spoke in a monotone voice, afraid showing any emotion would break him in the lowest moment of his life. He had done embarrassing, stupid things, and cursed himself for them, thinking they were the worst he could do. Now he knew otherwise, and he knew he would never be able to go a day without remembering this.

He started to walk forward, knife against the man's back until they reached the entrance of the stadium. Here he removed the knife and whispered "Follow my lead." to the man. He started walking beside him instead of behind, his far hand on his shoulder, grabbing him, and other hand holding the knife at an angle into his side. David smiled in glee, a feign to fool people around. "Haha, good one!" He laughed. It wasn't the smoothest, and obviously faked, but David was new to this, and hopefully would get no better at it. Continuing to follow that example, David led the unfortunate man out of the area, a regrettable trip David, accompanied with his two companions, secretly knew he would never return from.

* * *

The shack within sigh, all three teens were close to tears at what they had done. A rock in their stomach held then down, their hands bound by Zach, unable to do anything to help themselves, or the man they were escorting. If not for Klide, they would have been long gone before this happened, but with his watchful eye, there was no way they could escape. They probably had a small window of time to run while he was asleep during David and Sabrina's battle, but now that was long past, and irrelevant. They had missed their chance, and now David was regretting it. He said himself they'd just have to deal with what was being thrown at them, but now… even this first job, David didn't think he could take much more of it. Holding his knife to the man's back again, David slowly walked forward, trying not to push into the man too hard. He was already doing this to him, last thing he needed was to cause the pain himself.

Sabrina and Valorie really were in tears. Knowing what they had helped accomplish was… too much. Sabrina couldn't handle the stress. Escorting a person to their own demise was… over ruling. She would never forget the experience. It would haunt her nightmares forever. The man they had kidnapped whimpered in fear. It was a miracle he wasn't a bundle of tears himself. Valorie, on the other hand, wasn't holding up as well. All the negative emotion finally broke her. The stress of using so much psychic energy at once in the Stadium made her careless when the load was taken off, and the three human's feelings mixed with her own to create the most depressing concoction she had ever seen.

They walked as fast as they dare go into the shack, the small building even more uninviting than before, holding a dark shadow over the establishment. "Mkay," David started, addressing the captive. "We're gonna go in here, then there's a little hole. You're gonna climb down the ladder into there, nice and slowly." David tried to have a threatening edge to his voice, but in his own fear and despair, it came out as more of a whimper than anything else.

"Y-you don't want to do this…" He pleaded. The man's face was beaded with sweat, his blonde hair matted against his head, and shirt sticking to his body. He reeked, actually, from the stress induced liquid that seemed to pour out of his skin. David was sure he was no better for nerves. "I can hear it in your voice. You don't like this, do you?" He spoke tentatively, choosing his words carefully.

"Be quiet." David said simply. He didn't want the man to know how much this hurt. To be shamed would probably only send him downhill.

"N-no. You don't want to. What are you going to do with me anyway? I'm not special, I've never done anything. What do you want with me?" The man pleaded once more, really just trying to stall for time.

David relented, and sighed before answering, trying to hold back his guilt. "You're right. I really don't want to. I have no idea what I'm bringing you here for, I was just instructed to take someone, so I did. You're just an unlucky enough guy to be chosen." He was choked up for words. He sounded so heartless right then. David hated it.

"Then just let me go! You don't even know why you're doing this! What is the POINT?" He was almost screaming in terror now. He looked back at the teen with pitiful eyes, tears streaming out of them, blurring his vision, his face looked almost as if he had gone to a swimming pool.

"You really want to know? Fine. I'm trying to save our own skins. If I don't do this, we'll die, and I rather like being alive, you know?" David hated himself for that statement. He sounded so conceited. Putting his own life above everyone elses, letting Zach make him do such a horrible thing.

The man's eyes got wide. He had been trying to avoid that conclusion. Perhaps he was being taken for ransom? Perhaps for… unspoken pleasures. But to be killed? He didn't even want to think about that. It was too horrible. "But.. you said… they're going to kill me, aren't they?" David only nodded in response, the man looking back to see. He looked down. "And you think I'm just going to go easily? At this… at this point I don't care if you kill me! There's no way I'm going willingly to my death!"

David wasted no time in poking the knife right behind where his heart would be. "You make a single move, and I'll kill you now." The man whimpered and shrank back, all the courage he mustered up in those few seconds completely obliterated. "Good boy. Now down the ladder. Careful not to cut yourself." At least he was able to give one piece of sagely advice. '_Can I have a name, Valorie?'_

_Thomas._

David crouched down and held the shoulder of Thomas before he went too far down the ladder. "I really am sorry about this, Thomas."

Thomas's eyes widened in surprise. "H-how do you know my name?"

"That doesn't matter. Just know if it were my choice this wouldn't be happening." David didn't even try to muster a reassuring smile. There was no point. The best he could do was keep a poker face to prevent himself from losing his wits. The man took a full half minute to reach the bottom of the ladder, followed by David, then shortly after Sabrina, Valorie, and Klide.

Zach stood there, holding Thomas's shoulders in his hands. "Seems you've done good, David. I expect no less from the person who had the guts to burn down Eterna."

David shot daggers at the sadist. "Go to Hell."

He nodded. "I plan on it. But for now, I think I'll have a little fun." He pointed at Sabrina, who was just not wiping tears off her face. "She don't look too good. She okay?"

David's glare became even angrier, if that was possible. "Of course she's not! We know what you're going to do to that man, and we'd rather have nothing to do with it! Unlike you, we don't enjoy killing people!" David's despair turned to hatred and anger in an instant. His hands became fists, as they vibrated rapidly. It was all the boy could do not to lash out at the wretched man standing in front of him.

"Oh, well… I'm very sorry about that. How about I cheer you two up? Come with me!" He gestured to the three of them, two of which were bawling their eyes out, and the last, David, trying his hardest not to punch a wall in. He knew there was no way around it. He'd have to do what he was told. Gesturing to Valorie, he began to climb the ladder once more, followed closely behind by Zach and Thomas, then Sabrina and Valorie. The hour was getting late, through the window in the shack, David could see the sun only halfway in the world, closing slowly downward behind the trees. Leaving the room, it was only darker than second before. It was getting late in the year, the time when you never knew if it was going to be warm or cold the next day. Then, the sun went down rather early, and rapidly. The trees had turned in this area of Sinnoh, bright colors all around the boy. It was disgusting. What was about to happen, amidst the beauty of the trees. It was repulsive. Zach was repulsive. The entire situation was devastating!

David stopped outside the shack and let Zach pass him. Still holding Thomas's shoulder in a painful looking fashion, squeezing with all his strength. Sabrina came up behind him, head in her hands. Valorie had a hand on her back, trying to calm her down by instancing feelings of happiness, but it was fruitless. Valorie couldn't feel any herself. An air of darkness and defeat hung over everything. There was no way out.

They entered the treeline, now completely cut off from the sight of civilization, and David knew from going to the Stadium and back that there was none to be found anywhere near them. "And here we go!" Zach stopped and dropped Thomas, who promptly fell to the ground, holding his shoulder in pain. "And now for the main event of today! I've been itching for entertainment! The world knows I'm back, but I don't. Need to get back in the swing-o-things in a big way. Hey, you, girl with the nice ass. Come help me." Sabrina looked over to David, and he nodded. The best way to stay alive was to follow orders, after all. "Mkay, I need you to hold him still. No use in having him squirm or try to run. It's no fun that way!" pointing down to a terrified Thomas, Zach smiled with anticipation. The sadist was actually enjoying this! The perversion that shown through him was unbearable to even look at! Sabrina closed her eyes, and willing all emotion to leave her at once, knelt down and grabbed Thomas's arms, holding them tightly behind her back.

Zach pulled a knife from his pocket, one similar to the one David held, only much larger. Thomas finally cracked, his mind giving out. He actually laughed. The stress finally broke him. He was about to die, and there was nothing he could do about it. Maniacally, insanely, he laughed on and on, getting louder with each breath. "Hmm, let's see if you'll be laughing in a minute. Now… where to start?" Zach knelt beside Sabrina, to Thomas's right. He grabbed an arm and sized it up. "Hmm… here." David stuck the knife against Thomas's skin, at a dangerous angle. "Know, let's have a little fun." He jerked his arm inward, effectively slicing to the bone into Thomas's arm.

The laughing stopped abruptly. no more were the "joyful" noises coming from him, instead the screaming of a thousand banshees. The horror in front of David, the bloody fountain display, the pain of having an arm made useless. A world of pain. Thomas could only see in red, that is, if he could open his eyes to see. The screeching coming from his mouth was guttural, animalistic, nothing could compare. The pain that came from that single cut could drive a man to something lower than an animal. Then Zach pulled down. The flesh came off the bone in a thick slice, like a bloody mass of beef. Nothing ever looked so disgusting, so horrifying, so utterly terror inducing in his life. The screaming only got louder, the pain growing. Zach laughed. It wasn't an insane laugh. It wasn't forced, it wasn't faked. It was a genuinely gleeful sound, like that of a father having fun with his kids.

He didn't deserve to live. Things this low. He couldn't be considered a person. Zach moved on, finished with one arm, he moved to instead a leg. Slicing in then down, pulling the flesh off the bone. Screeching went on, screaming, yelling, shouting for help. Unintelligible, unfocused, only able to know one thing, pain that seized him like a gunshot. No, worse, as if being stabbed through with a thousand spears. No… no. There's weren't words to describe it. Nothing but pain, and fear. Nowhere left for despair, nowhere left for anything else but pain and fear. Thomas couldn't move. Sabrina was holding him, her eyes open in shock. She was petrified. The exact monstrosity she was assisting in. She couldn't react. Her face frozen in an expression of Nausea no words could describe. The blood flowed rapidly from the wounds of Thomas, who was still screaming, his voice going hoarse. Zach got bored of the leg and moved on.

David's feeling of revulsion left. He was angry. The screaming, the turmoil, the blood, the fear, the pain, everything in the scene that unfolded. I he was just angry with it. Zach laughed even harder at his display of meatcraft, and David's anger grew. Anger… not anger anymore. Hatred. All David felt was blind rage and hatred, building up. He stumbled over to Zach, as fast as his legs would let him move. Screaming from every direction, echoing through the woods, blood spilling on the ground, along with cuts of fresh meat. David couldn't hear anymore. It was all silent. All that existed were himself and Zach. David was standing right behind the sadistic monster now, a look on his expression that showed nothing but pure, unadulterated, loathing.

Zach laughed even harder. "Now you see! This majestic wonder! This beautiful piece of art! All it needs, is a little more blood!" He moved from the last leg to the second arm, slicing into it, adding more blood to the mix. Thomas was completely covered in his own, coppery liquid. Still screaming, he had grown fainter, as he slowly bled to death. Zach cut into it, this time starting at the wrist instead of the shoulder. "Almost done… just… a little… MO-" He stopped. "More…" he choked out. Looking down, he saw the end of a knife sticking out of his chest, blood spilling out of the wound. Smiling, he looked up at David, who removed the knife promptly. "You got guts, kid." He said, as he fell over on his face. Only a few more words were said before he became silent. "But you aren't safe yet." then he spoke no more.

David dropped the knife. He looked at his hands, blood covered and sweaty. His senses flew back to his head, like a cannonball in his mind. He had just killed someone. In one day, he had assisted a mutilation, and killed a person altogether. He broke. Knees hitting the ground, his face falling forward into the bloodied grass. A warm hand on his back meant nothing. He didn't feel anything, only hear. He could hear the now quiet whimpering of Thomas in his final moments. The sound of mass amounts of blood spilling from everywhere, a buzzing in his ear that he couldn't shake.

It was over.

It was over.

_Come on. We need to get away from here._ David looked up, panic stricken eyes seeing one of the few welcome sights in the world. Valorie stood over him, her white face solemn, and her green hair blowing in the night's cool wind. They were alone. Finally alone. David stood slowly, still in shock of his acts. He looked around. Thomas was long dead, and Zach over on the ground, his body lifting slowly up and down as he breathed weakly. He wouldn't last much longer. Sabrina sat on the ground, holding the lifeless body of Thomas, unable to move, or change expression. She only had a look of horror in her eyes.

David went to her and grabbed her shoulder with a bloodied hand. "Come on. We need to go, Sabrina. We're free." She didn't react. David looked to Valorie with imploring eyes. Not even bothering to answer, Valorie lifted Sabrina with psychic, and carried her body with her, following David's lead away.

As far away from that scene as possible.

As far away from the nightmare that they had helped produce.

* * *

**Now you see what I was talking about. It was evil. It was a necessary evil. Just tell me if you think the rating should change, because I seriously am considering it.**

**This chapter was a test for myself, to see how much emotion I could use. How graphic I could be, and how much feeling, how much despair, fear, pain I could put in a reader's heart. It was cruel, even for me, but I had to, I'm sorry.**

**Just as a note, I wrote this chapter while listening to two different songs. One was Lux Aeterna, from Reqium of Dream, and the other Low of Solipsism from Death Note. I'll leave it to you guys to figure out which parts were for which.**

**One final, happier, note, I'm holding a contest! I'm letting you guys make me some cover art for the story! The only guideline I'm going to set is I'd prefer it be a romantic scene. Not something... gorey like this chapter. Send your pictures to my Gmail account, dontbedumb18, and I'll choose the best one! Email the picture, with your fanfiction usename, and I will be sure to give you credit for the picture when it goes up. I wish you all luck and happy drawing!**

**Comments, reviews, flames, criticism, all appreciated. Thank you.**


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